India coach Gautam Gambhir did not confirm whether out-of-form captain Rohit Sharma would be part of the starting XI for the New Year’s Test in Sydney or not.
“The head coach is here. That should be enough,” Gambhir said to a room full of reporters wondering why Rohit was not at the pre-match press conference.
Rohit had skipped it before the third Test in Brisbane too – Shubman Gill spoke to the press then – but the explanation then was that he had not come for the optional training session at the Gabba where the press conference was being held.
Thursday’s training session at the SCG was optional too, but Rohit was there at the ground, on the eve of a Test India must win to draw the series and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
So the question was asked: Is Rohit okay? “Everything is fine with Rohit,” Gambhir replied.
And when he was asked again whether Rohit was going to play, he said: “We’re going to have a look at the wicket and finalise it [the XI] tomorrow.”
That’s where it all kicked off.
Rohit has been struggling for form. He’s averaging 10.93 in his last nine Tests and only 6.2 in this series. He was late to India’s training on Thursday.
Technically, it was an optional session, so it might not be right reading too much into it, but everybody was there.
Gill, who was left out of the XI for the MCG Test, was among the first set of batters in the SCG nets. Dhruv Jurel, who hasn’t played since the first Test in Perth, was among them too; it was one of the few times he has worked alongside the first-XI players.
Jasprit Bumrah came out from the doors leading into the members pavilion and went straight to Gambhir for a little chat.
Still there was no sign of Rohit at the nets. He had been in the main ground playing a game of foot-volleyball and then disappeared.
It was only after the others had batted for an hour that Rohit made his way out to join them, without his kit, in just his sweatshirt and shorts. He went down to where the team analyst, Hari, was standing. Then Bumrah joined the two.
This had happened at the MCG as well. Rohit took his time to get to the outdoor nets and had a fairly long session facing only throwdowns. The only difference was in Melbourne he also attended the press conference.
At the SCG, he had a light, 40-minute hit facing the fielding coach T Dilip and throwdown specialist Daya off the sidearm. The other frontline batters were already done with their stints by this time. Rohit was batting alongside Tanush Kotian and Abhimanyu Easwaran.
There were moments that he looked good, a pull shot off the front foot for example, moments that he seemed to have fun, an apology for an awkward throwback down the pitch had him smiling from ear to ear, and moments where he batted like someone not in form, he left one that took out his off stump.
At the end of the Brisbane Test, Rohit had admitted that while he wasn’t batting well, he was still ticking all the boxes that he needed to.
“As long as my mind, my body, my feet are moving well, I am pretty happy with how things are panning out for me,” Rohit had said two weeks ago.
“Sometimes those numbers can tell you that it’s been a while since he has got big runs. But for a person like me, I think it’s all about how I feel in my mind.”
In Melbourne, he seemed to find a semblance of form, or at least a lot more faith in his defence, as he withstood a period of bowling that Pat Cummins said was pretty close to perfect from his side.
Australia hunted for his outside edge, he denied them for the first hour, but then gave them their first breakthrough when he played a risky flick shot that ended up in the hands of the gully fielder.
“As a batter as well, a lot of the things that I am trying to do is not falling in the place that I would want to,” Rohit said after India went 2-1 down in the series. “But mentally, it is disturbing without a doubt.”
Reports emerged in the media that Rohit was already thinking of retiring at the end of the Sydney Test, which then begged the question, if he was thinking along those lines, could he not step away now when the series is still alive?
India rarely reveal their XI on the eve of a Test match but Gambhir refusing to confirm whether Rohit will be part of it was odd.
Doesn’t the captain walk straight in? Isn’t he the one who decides who plays, not the other way around? The new year has begun with plenty of intrigue for India. (ESPNcricinfo)
