The Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has recently opened up on his controversial call to pull out of the fifth test against Australia in Sydney.
He scored only 31 runs from five innings in the 2024-25 Border Gavaskar Trophy series Down Under. He was forced to sit out in the final test and Jasprit Bumrah led India in the Sydney test.
During a podcast hosted by Michael Clarke, Rohit Sharma recalled the moment when head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar had ‘agreed and not agreed’ for his decision to skip the Sydney Test.
Rohit Sharma endured one of the leanest patches of his career during the 2024-25 season. He managed to score only 164 runs in 15 innings at an average of 10.83.
He was in the poor form in the during the home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand, which India lost the series 0-3.
He missed the first test of the BGT 2024-25 which allowed KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal to open the batting. After his return, he opened along with Jaiswal.
“In the last Test match in Sydney, I had to be honest with myself. I was not hitting the ball well. And I didn’t want to put myself there only because we had a lot of the other guys who were struggling as well.”
“When you add yourself in there, it just becomes a little more… And we wanted Gill to play. He is such a good player. He missed out in the previous Test,” said Rohit Sharma.
“I was like, ‘Okay, if I’m not hitting the ball well, it’s right now.’ Things can change ten days later, five days later.
“I spoke to the coach and the selector, who was there on the tour. They kind of agreed – not agreed. There was an argument around it. You try and put the team first and just look at what the team wants and make the decision accordingly. Sometimes it may work, sometimes it may not. So that’s how it goes.
“Every decision you try and make, you are not guaranteed success,” he added.
“Since I started captaining the national team, not just me, I wanted the rest of the guys also to think alike – try and put the team first and do what’s necessary for the team and not worry too much about ‘my runs, my scores,’ and stuff like that. It’s important because you are playing a team sport.”
It remains to be seen if Rohit Sharma will be picked for the upcoming tour against England starting on June 20.
Speaking about the upcoming challenge, Rohit Sharma said, “Absolutely. Last time we played these guys, it was 2-2. We need some of these guys (Bumrah and Shami) to be 100 percent.”
“We just got to make sure they come out of IPL really well. This is the most challenging one. I know it’s only four overs, but you play today, travel tomorrow, and then play again.”
“That’s the challenging part – travelling all across the country – and it’s challenging. I hope these two guys, along with the other guys, come out of the IPL.
“If we have a fit team going to England, we will have a great series. It will be a good challenge for us.”
Rohit Sharma had a rough start in the IPL 2025 having amassed 55 runs in five games for Mumbai Indians and is yet to cross 20-run mark this season.
