Former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu has slammed the decision to rest skipper Rohit Sharma for the final AUS v IND Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG). The right-handed batter is not part of India’s Playing XI for the final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as reports said that he opted out of the game. The announcement was marred with controversy as Indian media outlets reported that coach Gautam Gambhir decided against including Rohit Sharma in the Playing XI for the final AUS v IND Test. The Indian skipper’s absence from the team generated mixed reactions from fans and former cricketers.

Former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu was among those who raised their voice against the decision to rest Rohit Sharma. In a post on X, Sidhu said that the decision to drop a team’s skipper mid-series was sending wrong signals. “A Captain should never be dropped midstream nor given the option to opt out … sends wrong signals …. Have seen Captains like Mark Taylor , Azharuddin etc persisted as captain for a year despite bad form …. @ImRo45 deserved more respect and faith from the management,” Navjot Singh Sidhu wrote in the post.

The former cricketer also shared a video in which he lamented the ‘strange’ way Rohit Sharma was excluded from the Playing XI for the fifth and final AUS v IND Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.Navjot Singh Sidhu, Rohit Sharma, AUS v IND, SCG Test “It’s bizarre, it’s strange, simply because of the fact that this has happened for the first time in Indian cricket history that a captain has sat out. If that’s the case, don’t make him the captain in the first place. However, if you have made him one, that too a great player who has been a grand servant of Indian cricket, then it shouldn’t matter whether his form is right or not,” Navjot Singh Sidhu said.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan (INP)