Rohit Sharma Dropped: Jasprit Bumrah Takes Charge in Sydney Test

India’s cricket captain Rohit Sharma has been dropped from the playing lineup for the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney. Jasprit Bumrah will lead the team in his place. The decision to remove Sharma comes after he has struggled to score runs recently. In 2024, he made only 619 runs, averaging just 24.76. In his last 12 innings, he managed only 142 runs, with a very low average of 11.83. He missed the first match of the Border-Gavaskar series but played three games, scoring only 31 runs in six innings.

During the series, Sharma tried different batting positions but could not find his form. In the Sydney Test, India won the toss and chose to bat first. However, the team got off to a shaky start, losing both openers, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, early in the game.

Besides his batting issues, Sharma’s captaincy has also been under fire, as India has won only once in the last six matches he led. They suffered a 3-0 whitewash at home, putting their chances to reach the World Test Championship final in jeopardy. With age being a factor, many believe this might be Sharma’s last Test match.

Sharma has played 67 Test matches for India, scoring 4,301 runs with an average of 40.57. His journey as an opener began in 2019, where he excelled, averaging over 90 that year. However, his recent performance has declined significantly.

Ahead of the match, India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir spoke to the media, discussing the performance and team selection. He mentioned that performance is key to being part of the team. On the day of the match, Sharma watched the practice from the sidelines, not participating actively.

India Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (w), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj
Australia Playing XI: Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (w), Pat Cummins (c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland