Sydney [Australia], January 3 : Former Australia cricketer Mark Taylor on Friday opened up on India batter Rohit Sharma being "rested" at the Sydney Test and said that there's no doubt that the 37-year-old was dropped following poor performance in recent times, reported Triple M Cricket Australia.
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 on the sidelines at SCG to Triple M Cricket, Taylor pointed out that the captain of a country does not opt out from the final match of a series.
"The bottom line is, the captain of a country does not opt out for the final test match, the final deciding test match of a series. He's no doubt, he's been dropped. And I don't know why they just don't say he's been dropped," Taylor told Triple M Cricket.
The former cricketer added that Rohit has been missing the Sydney Test because of his poor form.
"It doesn't mean he's dropped forever. It means he's missing this Test match because he's been out of form. That's not a crime. That's unfortunately professional sport and that's what's happened. And Shubman Gill comes back in, and Krishna's also in for Akash Deep. So a couple of changes for India, but what they've got to do is get it right because they're going to bat well today and it's not the world's worst day of the bowl," he added.
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.