Jasprit Bumrah feels Rohit Sharma shown ‘leadership’ by opting to rest at Sydney Test against Australia

SYDNEY: India stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah on Friday said that Rohit Sharma has shown leadership by opting to rest at the fifth and final match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia in Sydney.

During the time of toss, talisman India pacer Jasprit Bumrah came out in the blazer and confirmed that top-order batter Rohit Sharma opted to rest for the final match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney.

Speaking at toss, Bumrah said that Rohit opting to rest showed that there’s a lot of unity in the Indian squad. He added that there was “no selfishness” from the Indian batter. The talisman India pacer further added that whatever happens, it’s in the teams best interest.

Jasprit Bumrah said, “our captain Rohit Sharma has opted to rest for this Test, so this shows there’s lots of unity in this team”. pic.twitter.com/HJvzJEAfLL

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“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. 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,” Bumrah was quoted by ESPNcricinfo as saying.

Despite moments of brilliance from both sides, India’s batting remains a concern heading into the final game. With senior players out of form, the responsibility has fallen on the youngsters to help the team reach competitive scores throughout the series.

Rohit’s return to ongoing BGT has been marked by his lack of form and struggle to put runs across his name. The seasoned opener has just 31 runs from five innings, with an average of 6.20 in the ongoing series against Australia. Rohit has faced criticism over his Test batting since the Bangladesh series. He amassed only 42 runs in two Test matches while averaging just 10.50

Earlier at the Sydney Test on Friday, Jasprit Bumrah-led India won the toss and decided to bat against Australia at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground.

Australia (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.

India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (C), Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj. (ANI)