India vs Australia: Rohit Sharma benched for BGT finale; Bumrah leads
Rohit Sharma was dropped from the playing 11 in the fifth Test against Australia Sydney on Friday. Jasprit Bumrah has taken over the leadership role in Sharma’s absence.
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The exclusion comes after a string of low scores with the bat. He scored 619 runs in 2024 at an average of just 24.76. To make matters worse, the opener has scored only 142 runs with an average of 11.83 in the last 12 innings. He missed the first match of Border Gavaskar series, but has scored just 31 runs in 6 innings of the three games he has played.
The 38-year-old has tried various things to get back in form, including going in the middle order in the second and third Test of the series, before coming back at the top of the order.
India on Friday won the toss at the Sydney Cricket Ground and opted to bat first. Not getting the desired start in the finale, the visitors are two wickets down, losing boh openers, KL Rahul and Yashavi Jaiswal, as the first session is underway.
Apart from his batting performance, Sharma’s captaincy has also come under scrutiny as team India has lost five times and drawn once in the last six matches he has led. This included a 3-0 whitewash at home. The results have meant that India’s World Test Championship final chance now hangs on a thread. With age not on his side, Sharma could have played his last Test match.
Arti
