India captain Rohit Sharma on Friday ‘opted to rest’ himself from the fifth and final Test against Australia after a string of underwhelming performances, marking a rather dramatic start to the series finale.

His deputy Jasprit Bumrah took over the leadership role, something that he had done in the series-opener as well when Rohit took a short paternity break.

“Our captain has shown leadership, he has opted to rest,” said Bumrah at the toss that India won and opted to bat.

During the customary pre-match warm-up session, Rohit was seen playing football with Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan, who is ending the series without getting a game.

After this, Rohit was seen engaged in a discussion with the team’s video analyst Hari Prasad. He left the outfield close to the toss time before Bumrah walked out to a loud roar from the capacity crowd.

When the TV cameras panned on him, Rohit was seen sitting outside the dressing room with Fielding Coach Ryan Ten Doeschate by his side. Head Coach Gautam Gambhir sat a distance from the duo.

Sanjay Manjrekar lauded Rohit for his decision. ‘So typical of Rohit Sharma. Doing the right thing, doing what’s right for the team. But could not understand the ‘cloak & dagger’ around the issue. Wasn’t even talked about at the toss,’ Manjrekar posted on X.

Rohit made the call after scoring 31 runs in five innings across three Tests. The 37-year-old white ball great looked like a pale shadow of himself in those innings, struggling to execute even his bread and butter shots including the trademark front pull.

Looking at India’s practice session on the eve of the game, it became clear that Rohit was going to sit out.

The speculation over his future in the longest format also gained momentum after India lost the fourth Test in Melbourne to trail the five-match series 1-2.

2024 turned out to be the least productive year for Rohit in Test cricket as he collected 619 runs in 26 innings across 14 matches averaging 24.76.

Having played his 67th five-day game in Melbourne, Rohit is also being expected to call time on his roller-coaster Test career soon.

Rohit could not replicate his stellar success in white ball cricket over the course of his 11-year Test career.

After not realising his potential in the middle-order following his debut in 2013, Rohit’s red ball career got a second wing in 2019 when he started opening.

Last year Rohit guided India to a much-awaited T20 World Cup title but his performances dropped drastically in the traditional format.

His longtime teammate and former captain Virat Kohli is also facing criticism for his repeated dismissals outside the off-stump in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy thus far.

The first innings of the fifth Test between India and Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on January 3, 2025, was nothing short of disappointment for Virat Kohli and his fans.

Virat Kohli’s struggles against deliveries outside the off-stump continued on Friday morning, as his style of batting has bas become predictable for opponents.

India was struggling at 17/2 after losing both openers early. The pressure was mounting, and Kohli’s job was to steady the ship. However, things didn’t go according to plan, as he soon found himself involved in a nerve-wracking moment during the early stages of his innings. Scott Boland, Australia’s reliable pacer, was bowling a probing length outside off-stump.

Kohli, who has often been troubled by deliveries in that area, jabbed at one outside off, and it flew to first slip. The ball appeared to brush the ground before Steve Smith made a stunning attempt at a catch. The Aussies were convinced it was the end of Kohli, but after a review, third umpire Joel Wilson deemed the delivery not out.

However, Kohli’s second brush with disaster came soon after. On the 31st over of the innings, Kohli again edged a Boland delivery and this time was caught at third slip by Webster.

7 out of 8 times, he’s been dismissed in a similar fashion in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Despite his brilliant century in the first Test of the series in Perth, his subsequent scores were far from reassuring. In the 2024-25 series, Kohli has struggled to find consistency, and his dismissal in Sydney only added fuel to the fire.

KOHLI IN ONGOING Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25:

Perth Test: 5 and 100*

Adelaide Test: 7 and 11 

Brisbane Test: 3

Melbourne Test: 36 and 5

Sydney Test: 17 and Yet to bat

Sydney: It was around half past one when Gautam Gambhir walked towards the centre strip at the Sydney Cricket Ground with Jasprit Bumrah in tow.

A few minutes later, Rohit Sharma also joined the duo in the middle but there was hardly any communication between the head coach and the designated captain.

Then Gambhir showed up at the pre-match press conference (usually the captain attends it) and chose not to confirm Rohit’s place in the playing eleven for the fifth and final Test.

“We will look at the pitch and decide,” Gambhir said when asked about Rohit’s place in the team.

In the media interaction, Gambhir also spoke about “honesty” and “performance being only criteria to be in Indian dressing room” and soon after that, he was seen engaged in a conversation with Bumrah while the rest of his teammates were warming up with a round of foot volley.

All present at the SCG witnessed a complete communication breakdown between skipper and the head coach. There were already enough indications but the developments on Thursday made one thing as clear as daylight.

Rohit Sharma is no longer in coach Gautam Gambhir’s scheme of things after scoring just one second innings half-century in the eight Tests that he has played this season.

It is learnt that an influential cricket administrator, who commands a lot of respect in the BCCI, has had a word with the head coach to explore if the skipper can be allowed to play the Sydney game and bow out from the Test arena.

However, the head coach’s priority is to ensure India wins in Sydney and remains in hunt for a place in the WTC final.    

Such is the state of affairs that Rohit was more comfortable speaking to his deputy Bumrah and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar than Gambhir.

After a game of foot volley in which Rohit and Rishabh Pant were on one side and Virat Kohli on the other, suddenly the penny dropped with a different looking slip cordon.

While Pant was behind the stumps for the slip catching session, the formation behind the batter had Virat Kohli at first slip, KL Rahul at second, Nitish Kumar Reddy at third with Yashasvi Jaiswal manning the gully.

There were no signs of Rohit yet as one headed to the net practice area outside the main stadium.

Ravindra Jadeja was the first one in the nets to receive throwdowns but then Kohli entered followed by Jaiswal and KL Rahul. When Shubman Gill joined the fourth net, the batting sequence of the top-order became somewhat clear. All this while, Rohit and Bumrah were in the dressing room.

The one who looked the most edgy was Kohli, who was in fact bowled twice during the session – once by Nitish Reddy and other time by Washington Sundar.

In one of the throwdown nets, Pant was facing Dayanand Garani.

Once Pant finished his nets, rather than walking back to the dressing room, he walked towards the small wooden gallery where a middle-aged couple were sitting. They happened to be Gill’s parents, the only ones allowed in the gallery area.

After nearly 35 minutes, Rohit quietly walked into the net arena and without his kit.

While Gambhir stood at the farthest net, talking to Bumrah, Rohit was at the other end conversing with video analyst Hari Prasad. They stood in their respective places and there was not even minimal interaction between the two.

After the top-order had almost finished their session, Rohit entered the nets. It was just like MCG where he had come to bat after all recognised batters had finished their stint even though he was set to open the innings.

How did Rohit look during his 30-odd minutes of practice? To be honest, he looked a shadow of his old self. He was bowled after missing the line of T Dilip’s throwdown. His reaction to deliveries were late.

The most interesting aspect was when Rohit was batting, at the adjacent nets, it was Reddy who was looking in fine touch as he middled most deliveries. The head coach was standing at the umpire’s position in the youngster’s nets as the captain went about his routines.

Once Rohit was done with his training, he along with Bumrah and Agarkar left the nets but Gambhir stayed back.

It is learnt that during this meeting after training it was decided that Rohit Sharma would be “rested”, which in Indian cricket parlance means “dropped by intimation”.

Nearly 45 minutes to an hour later when the team dispersed, most players came out of the exit door leading to the net area before heading towards the team bus.

Rohit didn’t come out with the team and boarded the bus after coming out from the other gate. As the Indian team were leaving, the SCG operations team was practising its pre-match drill.

“The Indian team led by captain Rohit Sharma,” blared the SCG loudspeaker. It sounded different.