The issue of leadership change was not directly addressed at the draw at the SCG, Bumrah simply saying: “Our captain has also shown his leadership, he has chosen to rest from this match. This shows the unity within the team.” Bumrah had captained India to victory in the first Test of the series in Perth when Rohit was on paternity leave.
Rohit had been a peripheral presence as India made their final preparations ahead of the first ball in Sydney. He and the rest of the team arrived at the field at 9 in the morning but it was not until 15 minutes later that they stepped onto the SCG outfield. By this time, Bumrah had come onto the field, performed a bowling routine and communicated with Gautam Gambhir. Rohit stepped on the ground at 9.15 am. He also headed straight towards the field, leaning down and pressing his hands into it. He played some football with Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant. He was conspicuously silent in the team meeting with Gambhir and Virat Kohli speaking. He finally left the field at 9:40 a.m., just before the draw. The substitute players and support staff lined the edge of the field to listen to the national anthems, but Rohit was not with them.
Sunil Gavaskar said Rohit’s Test career was probably over. “I think it probably means that [if] “India does not qualify for the WTC final, the Melbourne Test will be Rohit Sharma’s last match,” Gavaskar said during the lunch break on the first day. [next] The WTC cycle will begin with the England series and the selectors will probably want someone available for the 2027 final. Whether India gets there or not is another question, but that is what the selection committee is likely to do. “We’ve probably seen the last of Rohit Sharma in Test cricket.”
Ravi Shastri was also of the same opinion. “If there was a home season ahead, I might have thought about continuing, but I think I might just pull the plug at the end of this test,” he said in commentary. “It’s not getting any younger… it’s not that India doesn’t have youngsters. There are very, very good players on the flanks and it’s time to build. Tough decisions, but there’s a time for everything.”
He was subsequently left out of a Test that India must win to tie the series and avoid handing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia for the first time in ten years. After joining the team midway through the Perth Test following the birth of his son, Rohit gave up his starting spot to KL Rahul, who had played a crucial role at the top of the order as India took a 1-0 lead in the series.
But after scoring just 3, 6 and 10 in the middle order in the second and third Tests, Rohit opened again at the MCG but again suffered two failures, leaving his average for the series at a paltry 6.2 after five innings. He had averaged just 13.30 in ten innings against Bangladesh and New Zealand during the home season before the tour of Australia.
Rohit’s year in Test cricket had started positively, with two hundreds and fifties in India’s 4-1 home win against England between January and March. He then captained India to victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup in June, after which he retired from that format, and it was not until September that his form dipped sharply.
