"The captain of a country does not opt out" - Former Aussie skipper's scathing take on Rohit Sharma during BGT 2024-25 5th Test

Former Australian captain Mark Taylor slammed India for claiming regular skipper Rohit Sharma opted out of the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney. Amidst growing speculations about his Test future, owing to poor form, Rohit was not part of the playing XI for the Sydney Test, with Jasprit Bumrah taking over captaincy duties.

The veteran has scored only 31 runs across five innings in the series at an average of 6.20 and a highest score of 10. Bumrah confirmed at the toss that Rohit opted out of the all-important contest with India trailing 1-2.

Talking about Rohit's exclusion on Triple M Cricket, Taylor said:

"To be honest, that's once again sidestepping the point. The bottom line is the captain of the country does not opt out for a final deciding Test match of a series. There is no doubt he has been dropped and I don't know why they just don't say it."

He added:

"He's been dropped. It doesn't mean he is dropped forever. It means he is missing this Test match because he has been out of form. That's not a crime. That's unfortunately professional sport. That's whats happened and Shubman Gill comes back in."

Rohit's poor form extends back to the home series against Bangladesh, averaging under 11 in 15 innings with a lone half-century.

Meanwhile, Shubman Gill, who missed the previous Test in Melbourne, replaced Rohit in the playing XI.

"Our captain has shown leadership by opting to rest in this game" - Jasprit Bumrah

Australia v India - Men's 5th Test Match: Day 1 - Source: Getty

India's skipper for the ongoing Sydney Test, Jasprit Bumrah praised Rohit Sharma for displaying incredible leadership qualities by opting out of the contest.

Bumrah led the side in Rohit's absence in the series opener at Perth, helping India pull off a massive 295-run win.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Bumrah said:

"Our captain has shown leadership by opting to rest in this game. That shows there's a lot of unity in this team. There's no selfishness. Whatever is in the teams best interest we are looking to do that. Two changes, Rohit has opted to rest and Akash Deep is injured so Prasidh comes in."

Faced with a must-win situation to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, India are off to a shaky start at 42/2 in 17 overs, with Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul being the batters dismissed.