Rohit Sharma opts to ‘rest’ for Sydney Test

Closure to Rohit Sharma's Test career as Bumrah leads India sans Rohit in the fifth Test at Sydney.

Finally there was closure to the question around Rohit Sharma. The ‘will he play or won’t he play’ question was emphatically answered when Jasprit Bumrah strode out to the toss ahead of the fifth Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Friday (January 3, 2025). As if to drive home the point, the BCCI’s note on the playing eleven and the entire squad did not have Rohit’s name.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Bumrah said: “Our captain has shown leadership by opting to rest in this game. That shows there is a lot of unity in this team.” Until Bumrah spoke, there was no official word on the manner of Rohit’s exit and the entire issue reveals a shocking lack of grace and transparency.

While speaking to the media on Thursday, coach Gautam Gambhir evaded a direct reply to the question around Rohit’s spot in the playing eleven. It set the field ripe for speculations and conspiracy theories. Entirely needless ahead of a vital clash of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

Having made a smashing Test debut against the West Indies at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens in 2013 with a sparkling 177, Rohit played 67 Tests, scored 4301 runs with an average of 40.57 and with 12 hundreds to boot. His last innings was at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on December 30, last year. The then Indian captain scored nine from 40 deliveries and succumbed to his rival counterpart Pat Cummins.

Always a bigger player in the blue shade, perhaps Rohit will get one last tango in limited overs cricket in the ICC Champions Trophy at Pakistan and Dubai from February 19 to March 9. India will play all its games in the United Arab Emirates. And that might well be Rohit’s final act in international cricket.