SYDNEY: India captain Rohit Sharma was all set to call it a day after the fourth Test versus Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) but it is understood that some “well-wishers” from the outside forced him to change his mind.
After batting in the middle order in Adelaide and Brisbane, Rohit returned to open for the Boxing Day Test and the move forced Shubman Gill out of the playing XI. Even that didn’t help as the right-hander failed to get going in both the innings and India suffered a comprehensive defeat.
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“Rohit had made up his mind after MCG. Had his well wishers from the outside didn’t force him to change his mind, we could have well seen another retirement in Australia,” said a source aware of developments.
With just 31 runs in five Border-Gavaskar Trophy innings and six defeats in the last six Tests as captain, Rohit had made up his mind. There was, however, a change of heart before the New Year Test in Sydney and it is learnt that it didn’t sit well with coach Gautam Gambhir. Rohit didn’t feature in that final Test, which India lost to lose the series 3-1, but all is still not well between him and Gambhir.
The head coach’s statement on the captain’s participation in the final Test did raise some eyebrows and Rohit’s indifferent conduct during the team’s final training session Down Under was a strong sign of things to come. He didn’t even feature in the 15-member squad for the fifth Test but assured the fans and stakeholders that he’s not going anywhere. In an interview with broadcaster Star Sports, he added that he is sensible enough to take his calls and felt it wasn’t ideal to feature in the XI when runs weren’t coming off his bat.
More than the runs, it’s the coach-captain dynamics which are worth taking note. They have disagreed on plenty of matters in the past few series. From squad composition to toss decisions, it’s understood that there have been occasions where the two continue to be in different corners.
The two have no option but to co-exist at the moment as they will be back together for the ICC Champions Trophy, which starts next month, and it could well be the last hurrah for some senior India cricketers in the ODIs. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja have already announced retirement from T20Is and it now remains to be seen who keeps going beyond the multi-nation tournament.