India coach Gautam Gambhir could not say Thursday if troubled skipper Rohit Sharma would continue to lead the charge in the fifth and final Test match against Australia, but he was “very confident” his side would prevail.
The group at least will make one adjustment after losing the fourth Test at Melbourne this week by 184 runs following the absence of paceman Akash Deep with a back injury.
Either Harshit Rana or Prasidh Krishna could step up in the clash that starts in Sydney on Friday.
Rohit, the opening batsman, hasn’t made more than 10 in any of his five innings in Australia, and the aging veteran is being rumoured to be out.
The captain wasn’t at India’s post-match press conference at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Gambhir instead went to press but did not say what would happen to Rohit.
It is all fine Rohit and I don’t feel like it’s anything normal,” he replied when questioned about why Rohit didn’t do the usual media functions.
“The head coach is there and that should be good enough. “We will take a look at the wicket and sort out (the team) tomorrow”.
If I ask them again if Rohit will join that team Gambhir says: “The answer is no.
Rohit missed the first Test in Perth due to his second child and Jasprit Bumrah assumed the captaincy as India won only one match in the five-match series so far.
The batsman Virat Kohli, the greatest of all time, is under a microscope too. He has been unreliable in single figures apart from getting 100 not out in Perth.
Then again, there have been younger batsmen like Yashasvi Jaiswal and Nitish Kumar Reddy. “It’s not about getting older players out and bringing in younger kids,” Gambhir said.
‘All it takes to keep you in that dressing room is performance. 2-1 in the series and need a win in Sydney from India to win Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Gambhir said he was not under any illusions that the Perth result was India’s last seven Test wins.
“Extremely confident,” he said. “We know we have the talents, the players, we have everything that can win a Test match here in that dressing room. ‘Not just here, but I’ll probably do some amazing things later on too.