Follow UsIndia decided to drop their captain Rohit Sharma from the final Test of the five-match series in Australia, something that former India head coach Ravi Shastri doesn’t approve of. Rohit was struggling for runs, and India were 2-1 down in the series when the Gautam Gambhir-led management took a call to leave the opener out of the playing XI.
Jasprit Bumrah, under whom India won the first match of the series, was made the captain. The ace paceman, however, got injured during the final game, and India ended up losing the match and the series by a margin of 3-1. Rohit, who averaged 10.93 in his last 15 innings, recently announced his retirement from Test cricket ahead of the tour of England.
Speaking on The ICC Review, Shastri said: “I saw Rohit a lot at the toss. At the toss, you don't get enough time to speak. Though I did put my hand on his shoulder in one of the games. I think it was in Mumbai and told him, if I was coach you would have never not played that last Test match. You would have played that last Test match because the series wasn't over.
“And I'm not someone who threw in the towel with the scoreline 2-1. If your mindset is you feel you are… that's not the stage, you leave a team. That was a 30-40 run game. And that's exactly what I told him. The pitch was so spicy in Sydney. Whatever kind of form he was in, he's a match-winner.
“If he had gone, sensed the situation, sensed the condition and smashed it for even 35-40 at the top, you never know. That series would have been level. But that's each one to his own. Other people have different styles. This would have been my style and I let him know it. It's sitting in my heart for a long time. I had to get it out. And I told him that.”
Rohit is currently playing for Mumbai Indians (MI) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The right-handed opener has also made his intention clear to play the 2027 ODI World Cup.