Shubman Gill’s return to the Indian team didn’t go on expected lines as the batter perished playing a loose shot on Day 1 of the Sydney Test on Friday.

Gill’s bizarre dismissal was the big talking point of the morning session. The India No 3 had a war of words with Australians Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith before he shockingly gave spinner Nathan Lyon the charge off the last ball of the first session, which ended up in his strange dismissal.

Gill was dismissed for 20 to leave India reeling on 57/3 in 25 overs at lunch on the opening day.

Smith described how Australia’s mind games had disturbed Gill’s focus after he tried to slow down things towards the end of the session.

The India No 3 went down to tap the pitch before facing the last ball from Lyon. Smith, at slip, complained to the umpire as to why he was not getting on with his batting before he called out to tbe batter.

‘Easy, got it in easy! He needs to call for the ‘sprain,’ Labuschange was the first to get on Gill’s nerves.

Smith joined in quipping: ‘Oi, let’s play!’

Gill was not amused as he told Smith: ‘You take your time, Smithy nobody says anything.’

Smith was not holding back ‘Just play mate. Let’s play’ while Labuschagne added: ‘Take your time son.’

It was the Australians, who ended with the last laugh. Gill, who seemed upset at Smith, played a loose shot to gift his wicket away. He came down the pitch to defend the spinner but Lyon foxed him the slider which went straight on and took the edge with Smith taking a comfortable catch at slip.

‘Shubman was trying to take his time there, (and) it probably played into our hands. He actually said something to me like ‘I will take my time’ but he decided to run at the last ball and I think he was trying to launch him. That happens,’ Smith told commentator Isa Guha at the lunch break.

The manner of Gill’s dismissal won’t certainly impress Coach Gautam Gambhir, who had issued a stern warning to his team after losing the fourth Test in Melbourne.

The coach expressed dissatisfaction with players ‘doing their own thing in the name of their ‘natural game’, instead of playing according to the situation.’

Only the suspicion of what Jasprit Bumrah, the outstanding bowler of the series and Rohit’s replacement as captain, might do on the surface constrained the joy of home fans packed into the famous old ground.

They got a hint from the last ball of the three overs India managed to bowl at Australia before the close of play when Bumrah dismissed Usman Khawaja for 2.

Teenager Sam Konstas, unbeaten on seven, made it safely to stumps with Australia 9 for 1.

Australia lead the series 2-1 and will reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and a place in the World Test Championship final against South Africa with a victory in the finale

Rishabh Pant was the top run-getter for India as he played a 40-run knock. Jasprit Bumrah played a late cameo, making a crucial contribution of 22 runs on the back of three fours and a six to take India to a fighting total.

Boland precipitated the end of India’s laboured innings early in the final session when he had Rishabh Pant caught at mid-on for 40 off a miscued pull shot and dismissed Melbourne centurion Nitish Kumar Reddy off consecutive balls.

Washington Sundar was beaten by Boland’s hat-trick ball without making contact with it but Ravindra Jadeja was soon trapped plumb in front by Mitchell Starc (3-49) for 26 to leave India reeling on 134-7.

Sundar was unfortunate to depart for 14 when a TV review detected a brush of his glove on a Cummins delivery and Bumrah wagged the tail with 22 runs from 17 balls before the Australia skipper had him caught at mid-wicket to end the innings.

India could still retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a victory but looked on the back foot from the moment Bumrah won the toss and sent his team into bat.

Cummins said he would have done the same but the paceman was still licking his lips at the greenish tinge on the wicket and the leaden skies above Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs.

The tourists had 11 runs on the board when Rahul departed for four and only six more when Jaiswal, on 10, was caught in the slips by debutant Beau Webster from a Boland delivery that nipped back to the off side.

Boland thought he had Kohli out for a golden duck off the next delivery but the roars of the sellout crowd turned to jeers when the third umpire ruled the ball had kissed the grass as slip fielder Steve Smith flicked it up for Marnus Labuschagne to catch.

Cummins tossed the ball to Nathan Lyon for the last over before lunch and the spinner removed a charging Shubman Gill, Rohit’s batting replacement, for 20 with a thick edge into the busy slip cordon.

Virat Kohli, perhaps as out-of-sorts in his batting as Rohit, had scored 17 runs from 69 balls when he became Boland’s second victim with a stab at a delivery outside off which Webster collected with a fine diving catch in the slips.

Bumrah had earlier attempted to douse rumours of rifts in the India camp when he said Rohit’s absence from the team was the 37-year-old’s own choice.

“Our captain has shown leadership by opting to rest in this game,” he said at the toss.

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.