Rohit Sharma's exclusion from the India Playing XI for the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 has sparked a spate of reactions with former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar questioning the mystery around the move. (Day 1 Blog | Full Coverage | More Cricket News)

Head Coach Gautam Gambhir had kept things under wraps on the match eve when he was asked about Rohit's chances of playing. The fact that Rohit was not part of the Playing XI was revealed on the morning of the match when Jasprit Bumrah joined his Australian counterpart Pat Cummins for the toss.

Bumrah said during toss that Rohit himself had opted out of the Test match. "Our skipper has opted to rest. It shows the unity we have," the Indian pacespearhead told Ravi Shastri at toss.

Manjrekar was not happy with all this mystery around the exclusion of Rohit from the team.

“Very mysterious, why Ravi Shastri didn’t ask Jasprit Bumrah about Rohit Sharma at the toss,” Manjrekar said on air. “Rohit is well rested. The issue I have with Indian cricket culture, the secretive operation. Rohit is not an all-time great to keep his exclusion mysterious. I can understand if it’s Virat Kohli."

So typical of Rohit Sharma. Doing the right thing, doing what’s right for the team. But could not understand the ‘cloak & dagger’ around the issue. Wasn’t even talked about at the toss. 🤔

Former Australian captain Mark Taylor too called out the Indian team management for 'sidestepping the point' and said that Rohit has been dropped.

"To be honest, that is sidestepping the point. The bottomline is that the captain of the country does not opt out of the final and deciding Test match of a series. There is no doubt that he has been dropped. I do not know why they just do not say it," Taylor told MMMCricket.

"It does not mean he is dropped forever. It means he is missing this Test match because he has been out of form. That is not a crime."

India then beat Korea 3-1 before eking out a narrow 2-1 win over arch-rivals Pakistan.

Even as Taylor remained optimistic about Rohit's future in the format, Shastri feels it is the end of road for the Indian captain in Tests.

When Shastri was asked on SENCricket that does he think if it is the natural stepping-off point for Rohit, he said yes.

"I do, in red ball cricket," said Shastri.

With 31 runs in five innings and an abysmal average of 6.20ezjili, Rohit finished the series with arguably the worst tour to Australia by any Indian specialist batter ever. He is also having a tough year in red ball cricket and averages under 25 in Tests in 2024.