The issue of the change in leadership was not addressed directly at the toss at the SCG, with Bumrah only saying: “Our captain has shown his leadership as well, he has chosen to rest from this game. It shows the unity within the team.” Bumrah had captained India to victory in the first Test of the series in Perth when Rohit was on paternity leave.
He was subsequently left out of a Test that India must win to draw the series and avoid handing over the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia for the first time in ten years. After joining the squad midway through the Perth Test following the birth of his son, Rohit gave up his opening position to KL Rahul, who had played a crucial role at the top of the order as India took a 1-0 lead in the series.
But after scoring only 3, 6 and 10 in the middle order in the second and third Tests, Rohit moved back to open at the MCG but suffered two failures again, leaving his average for the series a paltry 6.2 after five innings. He had averaged only 13.30 in ten innings against Bangladesh and New Zealand during the home season before the Australia tour.
Rohit’s year in Test cricket had started positively, with two hundreds and a fifty in India’s 4-1 victory at home against England between January and March. He then captained India to victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup in June, after which he retired from that format, and it was only in September that his form dipped sharply.
