Former India cricket stalwarts, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri believe that the Boxing Day Test might well have been the last time Rohit Sharma donned the whites in Test cricket following his gutsy decision to rest himself for the series finale that began here on Friday. The 37-year-old batsman has opted to skip the game during the series end at a time when his contribution is limited to just 31 runs from five innings in three Tests. “I think it probably means that (if) India don’t qualify for the WTC final, the Melbourne Test will be Rohit Sharma’s last game,” said Gavaskar during lunch on day one.
“The WTC cycle will start with the England series, and the selectors would most likely want someone available for the final in 2027. Whether India gets there or not is another matter, but that’s is what the selection committee is likely to do.
“I suppose we have seen Rohit Sharma for the last time in Test Cricket,” he added.
Shastri was in the same boat predicting that Rohit would “pull the plug” on his Test career after this series.
“At the toss, Jasprit [Bumrah] mentioned it before I could ask,” Shastri said during commentary.
He claimed that the captain would not be playing and that the team would be better with Shubman Gill in it.
“It can happen when you’re out of sorts, mentally not there, and don’t have runs under the belt. Still a very brave call for a captain to own up and say ‘I’m prepared to take a seat in this game,” he added.
Rohit has not done that well in Tests in recent times, passing the 20-run mark only twice in his last eight matches.
India is 1-2 down in the series, which means they must win the last test to keep the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, which they had for a decade now, and stay in contention for a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against South Africa.
If they miss the qualification, a tour of England begins mid-June for the next Test series.
“If there was a home season coming up, he might have thought of continuing, but I think, at the end of this Test, he might just pull the switch,” Shastri said.
“He’s not getting any younger … it’s not like India doesn’t have youngsters. There are some very, very good players in the wings and it’s time to build.
“Tough decisions are made, but there is a time for everything,” Shasti added.
At the toss, the captain stood by stating the team’s “leader-in-command” would remain absent during this match. Said present captain Jasprit Bumrah.
Sanjay Manjrekar, the former Indian cricketer, praised Rohit’s putting the team above self, rather objected about the vagueness on the decision.
“This was so typical of Rohit Sharma. Doing the right thing, doing the right thing for the team. But couldn’t understand the ‘cloak and dagger’ around the issue. Wasn’t even talked about at the toss,” wrote Manjrekar on X.
However, former Australia captain Mark Taylor brought an opposite view, saying a captain doesn’t “opt-out” from a series-deciding Test and that Rohit was dropped because of his poor form.
“That’s once again side stepping the point. The bottom line is, a captain of a country doesn’t opt out for the final Test match of a series, final-deciding Test match,” said Taylor on ‘Triple M Cricket’.
“There is not doubt he’s been dropped. They just don’t say it. It doesn’t mean he’s dropped forever. It mean’s he’s missing this Test cause he’s been out of form. It’s not a crime; that’s unfortunately professional sports,” he added.
After the loss in the Boxing Day Test early this week, Rohit also confessed that his poor form was “mentally disturbing” since he added that it is frustrating “when you cannot do what you have come to do”.
