BGT 2024-25: Was Melbourne Rohit Sharma's last test match? Sunil Gavaskar says big!
Xtra Time Web Desk: India great Sunil Gavaskar says Rohit Sharma has played his last test match at Melbourne. While speaking on the lunch break, Gavaskar detailed the reason behind to rest Rohit Sharma from the final Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
Considering India's position at the points table of World Test Championship and performance of the ongoing test, the chances are less for India to qualify for the finals scheduled to be played in London. Hence Gavaskar feels that India were unlikely to reach the final of the World Test Championship and that the team will move on from Rohit Sharma since there are no home Tests scheduled for the next few months.
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"Well, I think what it probably means is that India don't qualify for the World Test Championship final. To me, it looks that the Melbourne Test would be Rohit Sharma's last game. The new cycle of the World Test Championship will start from the England series, so they will look to have somebody who will be available for 2027 final. Whether India gets to the final or not is another matter, but I think that's what the selection committee will do. Therefore maybe we've probably seen Rohit Sharma for the last time in Test cricket," Sunil Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
"At the end of the day he's also part of the selection committee. What happens in Indian cricket is there is a selection committee which chooses the squad to go to travel overseas. Then when you come overseas, the captain, the coach, and I think if there's one selector, they generally form the selection committee. I believe the chairman of the selection committee, Ajit Agarar here in town, so he would have been part of the call that was taken. Maybe some of the senior players in the team would have been asked," Gavaskar added keeping the chairman of the selection committee Ajit Agarkar's impact in taking this decision in mind.
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Former India head coach Ravi Shastri also shared his opinion as he stated, "If there was a home season coming up, he might have thought of carrying on, but I think he might just pull the plug at the end of this Test. He's not getting younger, he's 38 years of age. It's not that India don't have youngsters, there are some very, very good players in the wings, and it's time to build. It's a tough decision, but there's a time for everything."
