Indian captain Rohit Sharma skipped the press conference ahead of the Sydney Test, to reporters’ shock, who saw Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir entering instead. When questioned about the captain’s whereabouts, Gambhir very briefly said,
“The head coach is here. That should be enough.”
Which, in all honesty, caused more intrigue than being ‘enough’ to the reporters’ question. This is not the first time Rohit has missed a media conference on this tour. Shubman Gill took the questions in his stead before the third Test as well. As the media were told, Rohit skipped the optional training that day and consequently was unavailable for the press conference. Although it was an optional training session at the SCG as well, and for the longest time Rohit did not get to the nets, he was at the ground, which means he had no reason to miss the press conference. Unless he was not well. And that’s what the reporters largely asked Gambhir first up. Some murmurs directly inquired whether Rohit would make the final eleven for the New Year’s Test. Once again, Gambhir shortly said,
“Everything is fine with Rohit. We’re going to have a look at the wicket and finalise it tomorrow.”
In a usual scenario, this should be very unusual. The skipper not showing up for the media conference before a big game. But India, as it happens, are not steering along their normal path of late, especially so, Rohit Sharma. The Indian captain has had a very average year, which transitioned to terrible on this tour. His highest score in the five innings he has so far batted in is 10. There have been calls to drop him from the team. There also have been calls to sack him altogether. But at this point, outside calls are not the only threats to Rohit’s place in the team.
Shubman Gill, who was dropped from the MCG Test, was seen involved in the training session along with Dhruv Jurel, who last played in a shaken-up Indian team in the Perth test when Rohit Sharma was away on paternity leave. This could only mean that both these players are in frame, in case Rohit is sidelined.
But the solution is not as simple. If the Indian management does drop the skipper, there will be questions about his future in the format. There have been reports that Rohit is considering retiring from Tests after the Sydney Test. If he were to be dropped from the team, does it mean he has already played his last game for India? And if India persist with Rohit for one, farewell-ish Test game, would that come down as selfish on the skipper’s end, especially when the series and India’s World Test Championship (WTC) final chances hinge greatly upon the final Test in Sydney?
Gambhir can avoid the question as to whether Rohit will play the Sydney Test but there is no looking away from the reality that he has a lot of thinking to do before the last Test game begins.
