India captain Rohit Sharma has been "rested" for the fifth and final Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024 in Sydney, giving rise to speculations about his potential retirement from the format. Here’s how he has fared as India’s Test skipper.
Jasprit Bumrah, who led India during their historic victory in the series opener in Perth, took over the reins from Rohit, whose place in the team came under the microscope after India lost the fourth Test in Melbourne, where he made three and nine.
There were reports of Rohit retiring from the format after the series. In the pre-match press conference, head coach Gautam Gambhir gave an indirect answer on whether he would play in Sydney, saying the tourists would pick their final XI after having a look at the pitch.
The reports came true when Bumrah walked out to toss with Pat Cummins. "Our captain had opted to rest," confirmed Bumrah at the toss.
Rohit Sharma is not captaining India at SCG, with Jasprit Bumrah stating he has "opted to rest".
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) January 3, 2025
Sanjay Manjrekar, however, is not pleased with the explanation provided ➡️ https://t.co/jaaNNPvi8U pic.twitter.com/pEYv1lkyEO
What's Rohit's record as India's Test captain?
Rohit took over as India’s Test captain after Virat Kohli resigned in 2022 in the aftermath of a 2-1 defeat in South Africa. Since then, he has led the team in 24 matches, winning 12 – the fifth most by an Indian captain – and losing nine. Of these, he has led India in eight games away from home, winning two and losing four, with two draws to his name.
The 1-1 draw during the 2023-24 South Africa tour was the most significant result India have achieved in overseas conditions under his leadership, while the lowest point was the 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand last year, which ended India’s 12-year streak of series wins at home.
If Rohit's Test career ends after the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he will finish with 4,301 runs at an average of 40.57, including 12 hundreds and 18 fifties in 67 Tests. His career received a second wind after being promoted to open in 2019, following which he has scored 2,697 runs at 42.80, with nine centuries.
While Rohit began last year well with two hundreds and a half-century in India’s 4-1 win against England between January and March, a prolonged string of low scores since the New Zealand series meant his average took a beating. He had averaged 13.30 against Bangladesh and New Zealand last year, which further dropped to 6.2 from five innings this series.
As India's captain, he has scored 1254 runs in 42 innings, including four hundreds and as many fifties at 30.58, the least among his predecessors who have scored a minimum of 1000 runs.
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