India captain Rohit Sharma has recalled his decision to opt out of the decisive Sydney Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia, saying that he took the call for the betterment of the team. Speaking to former Australia captain Michael Clarke on Beyond23 Cricket Podcast, Rohit recalled his chat with head coach Gautam Gambhir and the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar before the game, adding that the two had contrasting views after informing them that he won’t play in Sydney. Rohit scored just 164 runs in 15 innings, at an average of 10.83, as India lost the Border Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade.
Speaking on the decision to drop himself, Rohit suggested he wanted Shubman Gill to play the series decider as the latter had missed the game prior to the one in Sydney.
“In the last Test match in Sydney, I had to be honest with myself. I was not hitting the ball well. And I didn’t want to put myself there only because we had a lot of the other guys who were struggling as well. When you add yourself in there, it just becomes a little more… And we wanted Gill to play. He is such a good player. He missed out in the previous Test,” said Rohit.
“I was like, ‘Okay, if I’m not hitting the ball well, it’s right now.’ Things can change ten days later, five days later. I spoke to the coach and the selector, who was there on the tour. They kind of agreed – not agreed. There was an argument around it. You try and put the team first and just look at what the team wants and make the decision accordingly. Sometimes it may work, sometimes it may not. So that’s how it goes,” he added.
Rohit added that ever since he took over captaincy, his focus has been on putting the team ahead of individual goals.
“Every decision you try and make, you are not guaranteed success. Since I started captaining the national team, not just me, I wanted the rest of the guys also to think alike – try and put the team first and do what’s necessary for the team and not worry too much about ‘my runs, my scores,’ and stuff like that. It’s important because you are playing a team sport,” Rohit pointed out.
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