“Deserved more respect and faith” - Former India opener slams team management for dropping Rohit Sharma from BGT 2024-25 5th Test

Team India skipper Rohit Sharma was 'rested' and is not a part of the playing 11 for the fifth and final Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 Test in Sydney. Former Indian opener Navjot Singh Sidhu has expressed his views on Rohit not being a part of the side.

Sidhu reckoned that Rohit being left out of the team is very strange. Taking to X, the former Indian cricketer put out a video talking about how the Indian captain being dropped or allowed to sit out is the wrong move.

"It's bizarre, it's strange. Simply because of the fact that this has happened for the first time in Indian cricket history," he said on Rohit sitting out after heaving lead the team in three Tests this series.

Sidhu slammed the management, saying Rohit should not have been given the option to opt-out irrespective of his form.

"Either do not make him captain. If he has been made captain, and he is a big player who has served Indian cricket a lot, then it should not matter if his form is good or not. The captain should have not the option to opt out for the benefit of the team. It sends the wrong signals," the former cricketer stated.

"I feel that whether he has been dropped or has been given the option, management cannot give the captain an option to sit out," he added.

The 61-year-old also spoke in favor of Rohit Sharma, arguing that the management made the wrong call by letting him sit out or dropping him.

"He is the captain who made the team, who instilled belief, who earned respect by being like a father figure to the younger players, I think a captain never delinks from his ship, even if it is a sinking ship. He is a very respectful man. It is a wrong decision," Sidhu concluded.

Captioning his post, Navjot Singh Sidhu also wrote that Rohit Sharma deserved more respect and faith from the management.

"A Captain should never be dropped midstream nor given the option to opt out … sends wrong signals …. Have seen Captain s like Mark Taylor , Azharuddin etc persisted as captain for a year despite bad form …. @ImRo45 deserved more respect and faith from the management … Bizarre coz it happened for the first time in Indian cricket history …. Blunder - for a fallen lighthouse is more dangerous than a reef !," he wrote.

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Rohit Sharma struggled to score in the BGT 2024-25 series

While India failed to win a Test after the win in Perth where Jasprit Bumrah led the team, Rohit Sharma has failed personally with the bat as well.

His miserable form with the bat has been a concern as he failed to register one half-century in this series. Rohit managed to score just 31 runs with a top score of 10 across five innings. These 31 runs also came at a poor average of just 6.20, highlighting his constant failures with the bat.