 "Rohit Sharma revealed the decision for him to sit out of Sydney Test was taken after a discussion with head coach Gautam Gambhir. Image: PTI")
Rohit Sharma not playing in the Sydney Test was a decision taken by the Indian captain himself and not the selectors or head coach Gautam Gambhir as has been reported by multiple media houses . Rohit being rested for the fifth and final Test against Australia when the Indian cricket team was trailing 2-1 came as a big shock despite the captain not being in good form.
It was seen as a decision that could soon lead to Rohit’s exclusion from the Test format or him retiring from the format or international cricket completely. However, on Day 2 of the SCG Test, Rohit Sharma revealed that he, on his own, decided to sit out on the fifth Test and was not forced to do so by anyone. The Indian captain also clarified that he is not going anywhere and retirement is not on his mind currently .
Rohit explains decision to rest himself for SCG Test
Explaining how he arrived at the decision, Rohit, who has only scored 31 runs in three Tests of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Series, revealed he had a meeting with head coach Gautam Gambhir and the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar before the SCG Test where he expressed his desire to sit out of the match due to poor form. Rohit felt that the team needed in-form players and his decision had the full backing of Gambhir and Agarkar.
“I made this decision after coming here [to Sydney],” Rohit told Star Sports on Day 2 of the Sydney Test. “We had only two days between the matches. On New Year’s, I didn’t want to have this chat with the selector and the coach. But it was in my mind that I am trying my best but I am not getting the runs. I have to accept it and have to get myself out of the way.
“The chat that I had with the coach and the selector was very simple: my bat is not scoring runs, I am not in form, this is an important match, and we need players who are in form. As it is, the boys are not in great form. So I had this simple thought in my mind: we can’t carry out-of-form players.
“That’s why I thought I should tell the coach and the selector what’s going on in my mind. They backed my decision. They said you have been playing for so many years, you are the best judge of what you are doing.”
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More Shorts‘I am not going anywhere’
Rohit did not shy away from mentioning that he is in no mood to retire from international cricket and will bow out on his own terms.
“This decision is not a retirement decision,” he said. “Nor am I going to take myself out of the game. I sat out of this match because runs are not coming off my bat. There is no guarantee runs won’t come five or two months down the line. I have seen a lot in cricket that life changes every second, every minute, every day.
“I have confidence in me that things can change, but at the same time I have to be realistic as well. So life won’t change by what people with a mic, pen or laptop write or say. They can’t decide when we should retire, when we should sit out, when we should captain. I am a sensible man, mature man, father of two kids. So I know what I need in life.”