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India captain Rohit Sharma’s future is up in the air after he opted out from the fifth and final Test of the Australia tour.
Rohit Sharma was terribly out of touch during Australia tour. (AFP Photo)
Rohit Sharma’s Test career seems to be at crossroads after a series of disappointing scores with the bat. Add to that, India’s dipping performances in Test cricket have also raised question marks over his captaincy. He had a forgettable Australia tour during which he managed just 31 runs from five innings as India suffered a 1-3 defeat.
Rohit played in three of the five Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He skipped the series opener in Perth due to personal reasons and then opted out from the fifth Test in Sydney citing lack of runs from his bat.
After speculations over his Test future, Rohit clarified that he’s not retiring.
While the 37-year-old may not be thinking about drawing curtains on his career anytime soon, the decision whether he continues to be part of India’s Test setup could ultimately fall on the selection panel led by Ajit Agarkar.
“Rohit was waiting to see if India could find an escape route to the WTC final. Now, it’s really up to him whether to continue to fight for a spot. But the decision will be down to Ajit Agarkar and his selection committee,” a BCCI official was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
“It’s not just the tour of Australia. The decision to go for rank turners at home and then failing to deliver was the first blow that pushed India back in the race to WTC finals,” the board official said.
In an interview on Star Sports after skipping the fifth Test against Australia, Rohit had said he’s not quitting cricket.
“This decision (to sit out from the fifth Test) isn’t related to retirement nor am I going to step away from the game,” he had said.
India lost six of their last 10 Test matches to crash out from the race for the ICC World Test Championship final with Australia and South Africa set to fight for the title later this year in June.
India’s next Test assignment is in June when they will tour England for a five-match series which will also kickstart their next WTC cycle.
