Jasprit Bumrah leads India in series decider after Rohit Sharma opts to rest in Sydney Test amid poor show with willow
Jasprit Bumrah took the field as skipper for the crucial fifth Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Sydney after Rohit Sharma decided to 'rest' following his poor show with the willow.
The match is significant since India need a draw or a win to retain the trophy it has been doing for a decade.
Rohit Sharma's lean patch has been grabbing headlines in recent time with the skipper scoring at an average of 6.2 in five innings in the ongoing Test series against Australians.
His poor show with the the willow was also seen in the home series against Bangladesh and New Zealand where he scored an average of 13.30 in the ten innings he played.
In the high-stakes match, Shubman Gill replaced Sharma for the third position.
In his Test career, Sharma scored 4301 runs in 67 matches at an average of 40.57.
He hammered 12 centuries and 18 fifties.
After taking over the reign from Virat Kohli in 2022, Sharma led the Indian squad in 24 Test matches.
Bumrah led the Indian squad on the first test in the absence of Sharma.
Under his leadership, India won the first match and took a 1-0 lead.
Australia bounced back and won the second match to level the series.
Australia defeted India in the fourth Test to go 2-1 up in the series.
The Sydney Test now holds significance as the decider of the fate of the five-match series for India. A draw or defeat will ensure Austrlia winning the trophy.
In the limited-over's cricket, India won the T20 World Cup after a gap of 17 years under Sharma's captaincy in 2024.
He immediately announced his retirement from T20 International after the tournament.
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