India captain Rohit Sharma has broken his silence on missing the Sydney Test and claimed that he stood down from the team. Rohit has struggled since joining the team since the 2nd match of the series and his form had come under the radar. Fans and pundits had scrutinised the form of the skipper as India were left trailing 1-2 heading into the 5th Test.
The Indian skipper had scored just 31 runs in 5 innings at an average of 6.20. Rohit would then back out of the game in Sydney, with reports claiming he was dropped. He was replaced by Jasprit Bumrah as the skipper for the game. Rohit, while talking to Star Sports during the lunch break on Day 2, said that he wasn’t dropped or opted out of the side and decided to step aside for an in-form player. The captain said he had a chat with coach Gautam Gambhir and Chief selector Ajit Agarkar about the matter, and they backed his call.
“It’s not any of the three (laughs.) I stood down. I will say one thing and it will have 50 interpretations. I had a chat with the coach and the selector was very simple. I am not making runs at the moment. I am not in form and it’s an important game. We need an in-form player. Our batting order isn’t in form at the moment. So out of form players can’t carry the team at the moment. So this was the simple thing in my mind. It was my understanding that I should tell the coach and the selector and they backed my call,” said Rohit.
Rohit was replaced in the playing XI by Shubman Gill for the match.
I’m not going anywhere
Rohit would end the interview in typical fashion when the presenter was saying that it was an honour to have him as the captain of the Indian team. Rohit would say that he wasn’t going anywhere to end the interaction.
“I’m not going anywhere (laughs.)” said Rohit.
Article source: indiatoday.in
