Sydney: Team India red ball and ODI captain Rohit Sharma had reportedly opted out of the fifth and final test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground set to begin from Friday.��
According to media reports, Rohit had conveyed his decision to not play in the crucial match to his officials. Moreover, Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, who has been the team's top performer with an astonishing 30 wickets in four outings at a sub-20 average, will take over the leadership role in that scenario. It was under Bumrah's captaincy that India won its only Test on the tour so far -- the lung-opener in Perth.
Earlier, Rohit, just like Melbourne, was last among recognised batters to enter the nets but this was after head coach Gautam Gambhir refused to confirm whether the out-of-form skipper will be at the toss on Friday morning.
"We will take a call on the playing XI after looking at the pitch," Gambhir gave a cryptic reply to a straight query on whether Rohit will play.
The 37-year-old� might have taken chosen the hard way on account of poor form, he just scored 31 runs from five innings in the series.
Rishabh Pant in line of fire
There are reports that Rishabh Pant's shot selection has invited the wrath of Gambhir, who is now planning a rap on the knuckles by dropping him in favour of Dhruv Jurel.
If Pant is indeed axed from the game, it would be a redux of the time when legendary all-rounder Kapil Dev was taught a lesson for his poor shot selection during a 1984 tour of England with a similar omission.
During practice on Thursday, Jurel got the same net time as his senior.
When an Australian reporter asked if had some stern words for the boys post the 184-run drubbing in Melbourne, Gambhir didn't deny having an "honest conversation" and also stressed on the need to play for the team's cause.
Pant was also seen engaged in a long conversation with vice captain Jasprit Bumrah.
India will also have to make one change owing to Akash Deep's stiff back that has forced him out.
The coach's favourite Harshit Rana could be in but with his questionable consistency and drop in speed in the second and third spells, Prasidh Krishna can't be ruled out either.
In this backdrop, facing an Australian team with Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne back in form isn't an easy proposition.
"I haven't actually noticed as I am in my own bubble," Pat Cummins said when asked about whether he noticed that in the rival camp, another out-of-form batter Virat Kohli has been looking more proactive in the leadership role than the regular skipper.
The Australian team will be handing a debut to all-rounder Beau Webster, who would replace an off-colour Mitchell Marsh who hasn't scored much runs throughout the series.
"There is one change with Beau Webster coming in place of Mitch Marsh. Mitch knows that he hasn't scored enough runs," the home skipper informed.
Cummins will also have Mitchell Starc for company as he has been cleared after back scans.
The pitch, according to Cummims, is seamer-friendly. He said the fast bowlers are "happy with the surface".
Despite the challenging build-up, Gambhir said he is "extremely confident" of retaining the Border Gavaskar Trophy. The players will hope to be as confident as they prepare for the fight to keep their World Test Final chances alive.
Teams (from):
Australia: Pat Cummins (captain), Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Alex Carey (wk), Beau Webster, Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon
India: Rohit Sharma (captain), Jasprit Bumrah (vice captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tanush Kotian, Sarfaraz Khan.
Match starts at 5 am IST.