Ravi Shastri says Rohit Sharma 'would have never not played' in Sydney Test under his coaching

Ravi Shastri has criticised the decision not to include Rohit Sharma in India's playing XI for the final Test match of the Australia tour in Sydney. Then India captain Rohit was not part of the playing XI in the final Test at Sydney as the visitors tried to level the series.

Jasprit Bumrah was handed the captaincy in the Sydney Test, which India lost by six wickets, suffering a 3-1 series loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

It has to be noted that Rohit said later that dropping himself in the Sydney Test was his own decision.

Rohit was completely out of form in the series, as he had only scored 31 runs in five innings. He retired from Test last week after having scored at an average of 10.93 in his last 15 innings.

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Shastri says Rohit should have played in Sydney Test

Taking a dig at current head coach Gautam Gambhir, Shastri has lambasted the team's decision to drop Rohit in the Sydney Test. He said Rohit's inclusion could have helped India level the series.

The former India all-rounder, Shastri, also said that he had a word about the same with Rohit during an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 game.

“I saw Rohit a lot at the toss. At the toss, you don't get enough time to speak. Though I did put my hand on his shoulder in one of the games. I think it was in Mumbai and told him, if I was coach you would have never not played that last Test match. You would have played that last Test match because the series wasn't over," he said on the ICC Review.

“And I'm not someone who threw in the towel with the scoreline 2-1. If your mindset is you feel you are… that's not the stage, you leave a team. That was a 30-40 run game. And that's exactly what I told him. The pitch was so spicy in Sydney. Whatever kind of form he was in, he's a match-winner.

“If he had gone, sensed the situation, sensed the condition and smashed it for even 35-40 at the top, you never know. That series would have been level. But that's each one to his own. Other people have different styles. This would have been my style and I let him know it. It's sitting in my heart for a long time. I had to get it out. And I told him that.”

Stories of power struggles within Team India have become common since Gambhir took over as coach. The latest news is that Rohit and Kohli were pushed out of the Test team due to their poor performances in recent matches.