Rohit Sharma's poor form with the bat in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 has resulted in him 'opt-out' from the playing XI of the final Test match against Australia starting on Friday, 3 January in Sydney. (Streaming | Preview)
According to multiple media reports, Jasprit Bumrah will be leading the side in his absence. Injured seamer Akash Deep is also unlikely to be available for the final Test and Prasidh Krishna is the front-runner to replace him in the playing XI on Fri🎉day.
Earlier, it was reported that the team management was not happy with how Rohit Sharma has 🤪led the team in the series and his poor bꦜatting was also a concern.
Shubman Gill will come at number 3 and KL Rahul wi♊ll regain h𝓰is opener's position with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Head coach Ga🥂utam Gambhir also refused to reveal whether the team will see Rohit Sharma playing in Sydney or not. Gambhir was not happy with the question during the press conference and refused to answer.
According to♛ the reports, Rishabh Pant will retain his position as the wicketkeeper and Dhruv Jurel might have to wait for his place in the Test side after playing the first Test in Perth which India won under Bumrah's leadership.
Earlier, it was reported that Pant might lose his place in the playing XI as he has made only 154 runs🍎 in four Test matches of the ongoing BGT 2024-25. He threw his wickets in both innings of the MCG Test which resulted in India losing the match.
Australia have already announced their Playing XI for the final Test match in Sydney. They have made one change a💯s Mitch Marsh has been rested and all-rounder Beau Webster is set to make hi⭕s Test debut.
Australia's Playing XI and India's Likely Playing XI for the 5th Test
Australia (Playing XI): Sam Konstas, 𒉰Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon,ܫ Scott Boland
India (Likely Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shu꧙bman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
