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Rishabh Pant explained his thoughts on Rohit Sharma’s omission from India’s playing 11 for the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney.
Rishabh Pant (L) opened up on his thoughts on Rohit Sharma’s (L) snub. (Image: AFP)
Rishabh Pant acknowledged that the team’s move to not have the captain, Rohit Sharma play for the fifth and final Test was an ‘emotional decision’. The wicketkeeper-batter also clarified that the move was a decision taken by the management and not the players.
“I think it was an emotional decision. Because he has been captain for a long time, we see him as the leader of the team but I think there are some decisions that you are not involved in,” he commented at the press conference after the first day’s play.
“It is a management-call so I was not part of that conversation, so can’t explain other than that,” he added.
Rohit’s form as a captain and a batter has been a big cause for concern since the series defeat against New Zealand on home soil. He was put in the spotlight once again after he joined the squad for the Australian tour after India won the 1st Test. But despite his return, the team did not have the same spark as before, giving Australia a 2-1 series lead coming into the final game of the five-match affair.
Considering his age, form and lack of results, many including the likes of Ravi Shastri have predicted that his Test career could be coming to an end. But who made the call to bench the captain remains a mystery. Even the stand-in captain, Jasprit Bumrah insisted at the toss that Rohit had ‘opted to rest’ for the team’s benefit rather than being pushed out of the starting 11.
Pant on the other hand has shown positive signs after playing a rather mature knock where he curbed his instincts and took a defensive approach in his hard-fought 40 off 98 deliveries. But contributions from the other batters were missing as India were bundled out for just 185 thanks to a four-fer for Scott Boland.
Pant remains optimistic despite having a below-par score and feels that there is enough in the wicket to turn things around in their favour going into the next day’s play. Bumrah had already shown signs of his dominance as he got rid of Usman Khawaja in the final delivery to give the visitors a positive end to the day’s play.
- Location :
Sydney, Australia
