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Indian captain Rohit Sharma has ‘opted to rest’ for the fifth and final Test against Australia, which is taking place at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Rohit Sharma is not playing in 5th Test against Australia. (Picture Credit: AP)
The fifth and final Test of the ongoing five-match series between India and Australia is taking place at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who failed to fire in the last three matches, is not playing in the final match of the tour, and in his place, fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is leading the Indian team. Bumrah, who sits at No. 1 position in the ICC Test bowler’s ranking, led India in the series opener as well, which was played from November 22-25 at Optus Stadium in Perth. In that match, Rohit was unavailable due to personal reasons.
While speaking with former India head coach Ravi Shastri during the toss, Bumrah, who has won one out of two Tests as India captain, explained the reason for Rohit’s absence from the match and why he stepped out for the toss.
“Our skipper has opted to rest. It shows the unity we have,” Bumrah said.
India’s playing XI
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (C), Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
Rohit’s recent form
Rohit, who is India’s leading run scorer in the World Test Championship (WTC), has only managed to score 31 runs in five innings of three matches of the ongoing series. He came out to bat at No. 6 in the second and third Tests played at Adelaide Oval and The Gabba, respectively, but could only manage to score 3, 6, and 10 runs.
Rohit opened for India in the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground but got dismissed for 3 and 9 runs.
Must-win match for India
The fifth Test against Australia in Sydney is a must-win match for India to keep alive its chances of retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and also qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025 final against South Africa at Lord’s.
- Location :
Sydney, Australia
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