New Delhi [India], January 3 (ANI): Former cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu feels “dropping” India captain Rohit Sharma in the final Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy sends “wrong signals” ahead of the series decider game against Australia in Sydney.
He further said that Rohit deserves more “respect” and “faith” from the management despite his lean form with the bat.
The world of cricket was left in a state of shock when Jasprit Bumrah came out at the time of the toss, confirming Rohit’s absence from the playing XI. At the time of the toss, the stand-in skipper confirmed that Rohit opted out.
For Bumrah, Rohit showed “leadership” by deciding to take “rest,” which reflects the “unity” in the team and no room for “selfishness”.
With former players and fans delivering their verdict on Rohit’s decision to sit out of the fifth Test, Navjot launched a scathing attack by labelling the decision a “blunder”.
“A Captain should never be dropped midstream nor given the option to opt-out… sends wrong signals …. Have seen Captains like Mark Taylor, Azharuddin etc persisted as captain for a year despite bad form …. @ImRo45 deserved more respect and faith from the management … Bizarre coz it happened for the first time in Indian cricket history …. Blunder – for a fallen lighthouse is more dangerous than a reef,” Sidhu wrote on X.
In the video posted by Sidhu, he went on to slam the management for sitting out Rohit in the final Test, even if Rohit’s form doesn’t offer confidence about his spot in the team.
“If you make a player captain, especially such a big player who has served India, it doesn’t matter if he is in form or not. I feel if you made him sit out or gave him an option, the management cannot give the option to captain to sit out,” he said in the video.
Rohit’s immense struggle with the bat is reflected in his appalling run of form in the BGT, scoring just 31 runs in three matches and five innings in this series at an average of 6.20 and best score of 10.
Earlier, Wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant gave his take on Rohit’s absence. For him, it was an emotional decision but didn’t provide much clarity as he wasn’t a part of those conversations.
“I think, definitely, it was an emotional decision. Because he has been captain for a long time, we see him as a leader of the team, but I think there are some decisions which you are not involved with, and it is a very management call, so I was not part of that conversation so cannot explain anything other than that.” (ANI)
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