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Team India is taking on Australia in the fifth and final Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). The Men in Blue enter the fifth Test after succumbing to a crushing 184-run defeat against Australia in Melbourne. Coming into the fifth Test, Team India made a bold move as Rohit Sharma became the first Indian captain to get dropped mid-way through the series from the playing XI.
While speculations around this decision of Rohit Sharma being left out from India’s Playing XI began soon after head coach Gautam Gambhir refused to comment on the same during the pre-match press conference. Several reports also flooded social media, confirming Rohit Sharma has opted out of the Playing XI with Shubman Gill replacing him in the side.
Why is Rohit Sharma not playing Sydney Test against Australia?
With this, Rohit Sharma became the first Indian captain to be benched in the middle of an international series with Jasprit Bumrah stepping up in his absence. After winning the toss in Sydney, stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah confirmed the decision of Rohit Sharma’s omission also refuting the news of rift in the Indian dressing room. “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," Bumrah said at the toss.
While Gill replaced Rohit Sharma in the Indian playing XI, Prasidh Krishna was brought in place of injured Akash Deep, who was ruled out due to a back injury.
India's Playing XI for fifth BGT Test against Australia
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (C), Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
