'Have probably seen Rohit Sharma for last time in Tests': Gavaskar, Shastri

Former India cricketers Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri feel that the Boxing Day Test might have been Rohit Sharmas final appearance in Test cricket following his bold call to rest himself for the series finale that began on FridayThe 37yearold chose to sit out with the series on the line having scored only 31 runs in five innings across three TestsI think it probably means that if India dont qualify for the WTC final the Melbourne Test will be Rohit Sharmas last game Gavaskar said during the lunch break on day oneThe WTC cycle will start with the England series and the selectors would likely want someone available for the 2027 final Whether India gets there or not is another matter but thats is what the selection committee is likely to doWe have probably seen Rohit Sharma for the last time in Test cricket he addedShastri echoed the sentiment predicting that Rohit would pull the plug on his Test career after the seriesAt the toss Jasprit Bumrah mentioned it before I could ask Shastri said during commentaryHe said the captain opted to sit out and said the team would be stronger if Shubman Gill playsIt can happen when youre out of sorts youre mentally not there you dont have the runs under your belt It still is a brave call for a captain to own up and say Im prepared to take the bench in this game he addedRohit has struggled in Test cricket recently breaching the 20run mark only twice in his last eight matchesWith India trailing 12 in the series they must win the final Test to retain the BorderGavaskar Trophy which theyrsquove held for a decade and remain in contention for a spot in the World Test Championship WTC final against South AfricaIf India fail to qualify their next Test series will be a tour of England starting midJuneIf there was a home season coming up he mightve thought of carrying on but I think he might just pull the plug at the end of this Test Shastri saidHes not getting younger hellip its not that India dont have youngsters There are very very good players in the wings and its time to buildTough decisions but there is a time for everything Shasti addedAt the toss stand in skipper Jasprit Bumrah said our captain has shown leadership by opting to rest in this game Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar lauded Rohits teamfirst mindset However he criticised the lack of clarity around the decisionSo typical of Rohit Sharma Doing the right thing doing whatrsquos right for the team But could not understand the lsquocloak amp daggerrsquo around the issue Wasnrsquot even talked about at the toss Manjrekar wrote on XMeanwhile former Australia captain Mark Taylor offered a different perspective asserting that a captain doesnrsquot ldquoopt outrdquo of a seriesdeciding Test and suggesting Rohit was dropped due to his poor formThats once again side stepping the point The bottom line is the captain of a country doesnt opt out for the final Test match of a series a finaldeciding Test match Taylor said on Triple M CricketThere is not doubt hes been dropped They just dont say it It doesnt mean hes dropped forever It means hes missing this Test cause hes been out of form its not a crime thats unfortunately professional sport he addedAfter the loss in the Boxing Day Test earlier this week Rohit admitted that his poor form had been mentally disturbing stating its frustrating when you cant do what you have come to do PTI APA BS BSThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever