The former World Cup-winning captain of Australia, Ricky Ponting, has been stunned by the ‘rested’ remark on the regular Test captain of India, Rohit Sharma, during the fifth and final Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) and felt that it would be incredibly hard and long for the veteran to be back in playing for the blue brigade in the longest format.
Rohit joined the national side after the end of the opening game of the series at the Optus Stadium in Perth, which the tourists went on to win by 295 runs under the leadership of Jasprit Bumrah. A solid 161-run opening partnership between KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal pushed Rohit into the middle order for the second and third contests.
But having failed to earn the expected result, the Nagpur-born promoted himself back to the opening position during the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Rohit has averaged just 6.2 in five innings in the series, with the best score of ten. The speculations of his probable retirement started when the head coach of the side, Gautam Gambhir, refused to confirm Sharma’s place in the fifth Test.
“You can only take it at face value”- Ricky Ponting
The former batter for Tasmania, Ricky Ponting, has highlighted the chat for the last couple of days, where it was reported that the premier pacer of the Indian side, Jasprit Bumrah, would lead the side, as Shubman Gill would come at number three in the line-up to replace the 37-year-old.
Also Read: Ricky Ponting Fumes At Virat Kohli Over His Shoulder Barging Incident On Sam Konstas In MCG Test
“I think the reaction has been that they all sort of expected that it might happen. The chat’s been for the last couple of days that everyone expected that Rohit would not play this game, that Shubman Gill would come back in, and that (Jasprit) Bumrah would probably take over the captaincy again, and that’s the way it’s turned out.” Ricky Ponting addressed this in a recent interaction.
Rohit, having won the T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the United States of America, decided to retire from the shortest format of the game along with Virat Kohli.
“You’d think, it’s probably a long way back for Rohit Sharma now in this format of the game. India don’t play a Test match, I believe, until the middle or late June, which is a long way away when you’re sort of coming to the back end of your career.” Ricky Ponting explained.
“I think, he’s been a terrific player for India so with those sort of guys, you wish them all the best and hope to see them back out there again, but as I said, I think it will be a long – and probably difficult road – back for him.” The former leader of the side to the ICC Review show at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).
The veteran wasn’t satisfied with the ‘opted out’ or ‘rested’ term in the game for the captain. The reports claimed that the Mumbai batter had opted out of this game while Bumrah, at the toss, reckoned that their captain had been resting from this encounter.
“I was very surprised when I heard the term ‘opting out‘ coming into such an important game. We know he’s been a great stalwart for Indian cricket over a long period.” Ricky Ponting shed light on the discussion.
“So the way that they’ve worded it, you can only take it at face value. We’ve got to believe what we’re hearing coming out of the Indian camp, but being such a big game, knowing that they have to win this one to retain the trophy, it was an interesting time for one of their more experienced players to opt-out.” The renowned commentator concluded.