Before the Sydney Test, Indian captain Rohit Sharma took a brave decision to drop himself. However, everyone isn’t happy with the decision. The former Indian top-order batter has criticized the team management's decision and brought up the point to support his vision. 

The ICC T20 World Cup 2024 winning skipper Rohit Sharma has suddenly found himself under pressure since the home Test series against New Zealand. After losing that three-match home Test series by 3-0, India have lost the plot to qualify for the Final of the 2023-2025 ICC World Test Championship. 

After losing the home Test series against New Zealand, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 became very crucial for India. It is the five-match Test series in Australia, where India started the series with a record-breaking 295-run win in Perth. Due to parental leave, Rohit Sharma wasn’t present for the first Test as Jasprit Bumrah led the Indian team for that game. 

See Also: Rohit Sharma's Test future revealed

Captain Rohit Sharma has a tough time in Test cricket

Rohit returned to the team during the first Test and played the leadership role after that Test match. While India lost the second Test by 10 wickets, which was a day-night pink ball Test at Adelaide Oval, the rain-dominated Brisbane Test had a draw result. Hosts Australia secured the Test series by winning the Melbourne Test by 184 runs. 

Now, India can only draw the Test series with a victory in the ongoing Test series finale at Sydney Cricket Ground. This win is also important for them to stay in contention for the third straight ICC World Test Championship Final.

While the skipper Rohit Sharma has struggled with his decisions in the recent Test matches, the right-handed batter has scored only 164 runs in 15 innings with an average of just 10.93. While he has tested himself both as an opener and a middle-order batter, he recorded only two 20+ scores out of the last 15 Test innings, including one half-century.

So, Rohit chose to drop himself for the Sydney Test as Jasprit Bumrah returned to the Test captaincy. After choosing to bat first, India were all out for 185 runs, and Australia scored 9/1 at the stumps of the opening day. 

It's a wrong decision: Navjot Singh Sidhu

Former Indian top-order batter Navjot Singh Sidhu is completely unhappy with the skipper Rohit Sharma’s decision to drop himself from the Sydney Test. Cricketer-turned-politician felt that either the player shouldn’t be the captain or he has to take complete responsibility for the team. He further added, “A captain never de-links from his ship, even if it is a sinking ship.” 

In his social media post, the former Indian cricketer added the examples of former Australian skipper Mark Taylor and the former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin. 

A Captain should never be dropped midstream nor given the option to opt out … sends wrong signals …. Have seen Captain s like Mark Taylor , Azharuddin etc persisted as captain for a year despite bad form …. @ImRo45 deserved more respect and faith from the management …… pic.twitter.com/OJcSF9r3fU

— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) January 3, 2025