Gambhir evades reply on Rohit Sharma’s place in playing XI for Sydney Test

India’s coach Gautam Gambhir and captain Rohit Sharma. File photo
| Photo Credit: AFP

Never has an Indian captain’s stint in the nets and his body-language been analysed so threadbare. But it all happened at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and Rohit Sharma was in the centre of it all, on the eve of the fifth and final Test against Australia.

It started when Gautam Gambhir addressed the pre-match press-conference at the SCG here on Thursday (January 2, 2024) afternoon. Just as the interaction warmed up, the Indian coach was asked about Rohit not being present to talk to the correspondents. “Everything is fine with Rohit and I don’t think it is anything traditional. The head-coach is here, I think that should be fine, that should be good enough and tomorrow we will have a look at the wicket and probably announce our playing eleven,” replied Gambhir.

To be fair to the former India opener, there have been instances in the past when the skipper did not turn up and another player faced the media. There has been no tradition set in stone about the Indian captain talking to the press, a day ahead of a contest. So that was one googly, adeptly dealt with.

Rohit’s poor form raises debate

But the drama was just building up as the backdrop had the stink of a palace intrigue. Rohit’s poor form in this series (31 runs from six innings), reports hinting at the coach’s strong words with the team after the defeat in the fourth Test at Melbourne, and speculation about a senior player harbouring captaincy ambitions, were all part of the mix.

A direct question on whether Rohit will be part of the playing eleven was raised. “The answer remains the same,” the coach said. Inside the hall, correspondents wrestled with multiple queries in their minds. Is the captain being benched? But wouldn’t that be too extreme? Or was it just a casual line?

Soon, attention shifted to India’s training stint at the main ground. Rohit participated in the warm-up game of footvolley, but skipped the slip-catching drill. When the players moved to the nets outside the main venue, the captain was missing. K.L. Rahul, Virat Kohli, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel, all had long batting stints.

Rohit finally turned up. He had a chat with Jasprit Bumrah and Jaiswal. There was conversation and some laughter. After a while he returned to the dressing room, padded up and got back to the nets. Countering only throwdowns, Rohit focussed on the task at hand.

Later along with Bumrah and chief selector Ajit Agarkar, he returned to the pavilion. A captain being dropped would be too radical. However, officially, the last word would be known at the toss on Friday (January 3, 2025).