Noida: Sidhu, who represented India in 51 Tests and 136 ODIs said the call to leave Rohit Sharma out from the side during the series sent wrong signals, insisting the 37-year-old Rohit Sharma deserved more “respect”.
After captain Rohit Sharma was benched for Friday’s fifth Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test match against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground, former India opener Navjot Singh Sidhu blasted the national team’s management.
After the Boxing Day Test, Rohit and India were plagued by a run of poor scores, therefore the captain decided not to include him in the 16-man team for the final Test. For the second time in the series, Jasprit Bumrah took over as captain.
Sidhu, who played for India in 136 ODIs and 51 Test matches, claimed that the decision to exclude Rohit from the team throughout the series conveyed the wrong message and that the 37-year-old Indian captain should be treated with more “respect.”
A Captain should never be dropped midstream nor given the option to opt out … sends wrong signals.. Sidhu wrote on X.
Have seen captains like Mark Taylor , Azharuddin etc persisted as captain for a year despite bad form … .Rohit deserved more respect and faith from the management … Bizarre because it happened for the first time in Indian cricket history …. Blunder – for a fallen lighthouse is more dangerous than a reef !…he added.
Australia XI: Sam Konstas, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, Travis Head, Beau Webster, Alex Carey (wk), Pat Cummins (c), Mitch Starc, Nathan Lyon, Scott Boland
India XI: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah (c), Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
