"He is our leader but...": Pant on Rohit Sharma's omission

For the fifth and final Test match against Australia Team India skipper Rohit Sharma opted to rest himself following the string of underwhelming performancesThe move has led his future in doubt and also evokes emotional responses from his successor Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh PantRohit Sharma opted to rest himself from the final Test match against Australia after being able to score just 31 runs in five Test innings in three matches Shubman Gill came in place of the skipper for the Sydney TestJasprit Bumrah took over the leadership role The speedster had earlier led the side during the first Test match in Perth which Team India won by 295 runsOur captain has shown leadership he has opted to rest said Bumrah at the tossIt shows the unity we have in the team he added in front of a packed arena trying to put an end to talks of dissension in the dressing roomThe day ended with India getting bowled out for 185 runs after opting to bat firstRishabh Pant who was the topscorer for India in the first essay opened up on how difficult was it for him to hold back his aggressive instincts The lefthander played a knock of 40 runs which came in 98 deliveriesThe wicketkeeperbatsman also spoke about Rohit Sharmas snub from the final TestIt was an emotional moment He is our leader but its a team management call of which Rohit is a part I was not part of the conversations and cant say more he saidAlso ReadIND vs AUS 5th Test Fierce Scott Boland completesRohit Sharma in all his previous innings of the ongoing series looked pale and struggling to play even his trademark shot front foot pullDuring the customary prematch warmup session Rohit was seen playing football with Virat Kohli Pant and Sarfaraz Khan who along with Abhimanyu Easwaran will end the series without getting an international gameAfter this Rohit was seen engaged in a discussion with the teams video analyst Hari Prasad He left the outfield close to the toss time before Bumrah walked out to a loud roar from the capacity crowdWhen the TV cameras panned on him Rohit was seen sitting outside the dressing room with fielding coach Ryan Ten Doeschate by his side Head coach Gautam Gambhir sat a distance from the duoFormer India player Sanjay Manjrekar lauded Rohit Sharma for his decisionSo typical of Rohit Sharma Doing the right thing doing whats right for the team But could not understand the cloak amp dagger around the issue Wasnt even talked about at the toss he posted on XLooking at Indias practice session on the eve of the game it was clear that Rohit was going to sit out Speculation over his future in the longest format also gained momentum after India lost the fourth Test in Melbourne tying the fivematch series 12The year 2024 turned out to be the least productive year for Rohit in Test cricket as he collected 619 runs in 26 innings across 14 matches averaging 2476Having played his 67th fiveday game in Melbourne Rohit is also being expected to call time on his rollercoaster Test career soonRohit Sharma could not replicate his stellar success in white ball cricket over the course of his 11year Test careerAfter not realising his potential in the middleorder following his debut in 2013 Rohits red ball career got a second wing in 2019 when he started openingLast year Rohit guided India to a muchawaited T20 World Cup title but his performances dropped drastically in the traditional formatHis longtime teammate and former captain Virat Kohli is also facing criticism for his repeated dismissals outside the offstump in the BorderGavaskar Trophy thus farWith PTI Inputs