Indian captain Rohit Sharma is not playing in the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Fast bowler Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is leading the Indian team in place of Rohit. Speaking during the toss with former India head coach Ravi Shastri, Bumrah explained that Rohit had opted to rest for the final match. He said, "Our captain has shown leadership by opting to rest in this game. That shows there's a lot of unity in this team. There's no selfishness. Whatever is in the teams best interest we are looking to do that. Two changes, Rohit has opted to rest and Akash Deep is injured so Prasidh comes in."
India won the toss and decided to bat first. They made two changes for the match. Prasidh Krishna replaced the injured Akash Deep. Shubman Gill came in to take Rohit Sharma's place.
Bumrah expressed confidence in the team's ability to handle the new ball and set up the game. "We've played some really good cricket in this series. The last match was pretty exciting. hopefully we can put up a good show. It seems to be some grass. It doesn't look to have too many demons or look too spicy. Obviously there will be a challenge with the new ball but if you get through it's always a god batting track," he added.
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India has previously played without Rohit in the series opener in Perth due to Rohit's unavailability for personal reasons. In that match, Bumrah led the team to a dominant 295-run victory.
Rohit has struggled for form in the last three matches of the series, he has managed just 31 runs in five innings during the ongoing series. After batting at No. 6 in the second and third Tests, he scored only 3, 6, and 10 runs. In the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, he opened the batting but was dismissed for 3 and 9 runs.
The fifth Test is a must-win match for India, as they look to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and stay in contention for a spot in the World Test Championship final against South Africa in 2025.
India’s Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
Australia's Playing XI: Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (WK), Pat Cummins (C), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland.
