The issue of a change in leadership was not directly addressed at the time of the toss at the SCG, with Bumrah only saying: “Our captain has also shown his leadership, he has decided to take a rest from this game. It Shows unity within the team.” “When Rohit was on paternity leave, Bumrah led India to victory in the first Test of the series in Perth.
Rohit was in attendance when India were making their final preparations before the first ball in Sydney. He and the rest of the team reached the ground at 9 am but did not step onto the SCG outfield until 15 minutes later. By that time, Bumrah had taken to the pitch, gone through the spot-bowling routine and checked-in with Gautam Gambhir. Rohit stepped on the field at 9.15 in the morning. He also moved towards the pitch, bent down and pressed his hands into it. He played some football with Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant. He was clearly calm during the team talks with Gambhir and Virat Kohli. He finally walked off the field at 9.40 am, just before the toss. The reserve players and support staff were standing on the side of the boundary for the national anthem but Rohit was not with them.
Sunil Gavaskar said that Rohit’s Test career is probably over. “I think it probably means [if] “India could not qualify for the WTC final, the Melbourne Test will be Rohit Sharma’s last game,” Gavaskar said during the lunch break on the first day. [next] The WTC cycle will begin with the England series, and the selectors will likely want to have someone available for the 2027 final. Whether India reaches there or not is a different matter, but this is what the selection committee can do. “We have probably seen Rohit Sharma for the last time in Test cricket.”
Ravi Shastri also had the same opinion. “If there was a domestic season coming up he might have thought about continuing, but I think he might call it quits at the end of this Test,” he said in the commentary. “He is not getting any younger… It is not that India does not have young players. There are very, very good players in the team and it is time to move on. Tough decision, but there is a time for everything. “
He was subsequently ruled out of the Test which India must win to draw the series and avoid handing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia for the first time in ten years. Having joined the team midway through the Perth Test following the birth of his son, Rohit gave up his opening position to KL Rahul, who played a crucial role at the top of the order as India took a 1-0 lead in the series.
But after scoring only 3, 6 and 10 in the middle order in the second and third Tests, Rohit went back to opening at the MCG, but he again suffered two failures, leading to the series collapse after five innings. His average remained at 6.2. He averaged only 13.30 in ten innings against Bangladesh and New Zealand during the home season before the Australia tour.
Rohit had a positive start to the year in Test cricket, including two centuries and a half-century in India’s 4–1 win against England at home between January and March. He then led India to victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup in June, after which he retired from that format, and his form declined rapidly in September itself.
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