“He was needed the most in Sydney” - Former India cricketer’s massive statement on Rohit Sharma after BGT 2024-25

Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif believes reigning skipper Rohit Sharma should step down from Test cricket ahead of the next ICC World Test Championship cycle. The 44-year-old slammed Rohit’s decision to sit out in the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 against Australia in Sydney.

Kaif reckoned that Rohit’s absence affected the team when stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah was absent during the fourth innings due to injury. He pointed out that Rohit had a golden opportunity to lead the side and help India draw the series instead of giving Shubman Gill a place in the XI.

On Wednesday (January 8), Mohammad Kaif posted a video on X and said:

“I think Rohit should no longer play in Tests because he was needed the most in the Sydney Test match, I had said he should have played. It would’ve been the right call. He should have forged a partnership with Jaiswal, led [the team] to a 2-2 draw [in the series]. [He should've] Taken a lead and after a 2-2, he should have come back with honor but he wasted it by not playing. He felt that he is a team man, he called in-form batter Shubman Gill and said, ‘I’m not playing.’”

“See, his absence was felt when Bumrah got injured in the second innings. Rohit Sharma as a captain would’ve been there [if he had played]. He has been with the team, he knows Akash Deep, Siraj, Jadeja or Prasidh Krishna is playing, and Rohit was traveling with all of them. So, your main leader, at the crucial time, there was no one, neither Bumrah nor Rohit Sharma,” he added.

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“Rohit Sharma took the wrong decision to sit out” – Mohammad Kaif

Mohammad Kaif reiterated that Rohit Sharma shouldn’t have sat out the fifth Test as it affected the bowlers. He opined that there would have been no harm had Rohit failed in the Sydney Test as the majority, including Australian players, struggled to find form throughout the five-Test series.

In the same video, Kaif said:

“The one who [Virat Kohli] is not leading for the last few years is leading the team, asking Siraj and Jadeja 'What are you going to do? Tell me.' Prasidh Krishna was playing his first match, his length was not right. Who is supporting your young bowlers where there was pressure? There was no one. So, I said that Rohit Sharma took the wrong decision to sit out.”

The cricketer-turned-commentator continued:

“He should have played, it doesn’t matter whether he had failed to score runs. No one was scoring runs. Neither it was Kohli, Khawaja or Labuschagne [who was scoring big]. Smith’s form came too late, there were no high-scoring matches."

"Everyone was struggling for runs. KL Rahul scored in the beginning, but he too failed later, scoring 100 or 0 at times. So, nobody scored runs. As a leader, there was a big role for Rohit Sharma in that Test match. Just being out there with the team that boss,” Kaif added.

Rohit managed just 31 runs across five innings at an average of 6.2 in the series Down Under. He has scored 164 runs in his last 15 innings at an average of 10.93, including a half-century. As a skipper, he has managed a solitary win in his last six Tests, including a draw in the third Test in Brisbane and a 3-0 series loss at home against New Zealand.

Other players under scanner after 2024-25 BGT:

1. Virat Kohli: 190 runs @23.75
2. Usman Khawaja: 184 runs @20.44
3. Marnus Labuschagne: 232 runs @25.77
4. KL Rahul: 276 runs @30.66
5. Shubman Gill: 93 runs @18.60