India’s combative head coach Gautam Gambhir has refused to confirm who will captain the team for the pivotal final Test in Sydney, casting doubt on Rohit Sharma’s place in the side.
Vice captain Jasprit Bumrah would lead India if Rohit, who has had an abominable series, was dropped.
Bumrah’s supreme performance – both as a bowler in all Tests but also as leader in Perth in the absence of Rohit – have pushed the tourists into a position where they could make a change at the top.
Indian captain Rohit Sharma (left) with Jasprit Bumrah.Credit: AP
It is an extraordinary departure from convention for a team to be unable to name the identity of their captain less than 24 hours before a Test.
Before Gambhir spoke publicly for the first time all tour, having also spoken instead of Rohit at the prime minister’s reception on New Year’s Day, he held a long discussion with Bumrah on the boundary’s edge at the SCG.
Gambhir confirmed Akash Deep would miss the fifth Test with a back problem, but when pressed on Rohit’s place in the side, he said he would not confirm the XI.
Bumrah and Gambhir then took a close look at a well-grassed SCG pitch, before later being joined by Rohit in the middle of the ground. There have been reports of major infighting within the Indian camp, including a heated address to the team by Gambhir after their dramatic MCG defeat.
“They’re just reports – that’s not the truth. I don’t think I need to answer to any reports,” Gambhir snapped when asked about suggestions of unrest. “There were honest words, that’s all I can say, and honesty is very important. Honesty is extremely important if you want to go on and achieve some great things.
“Indian cricket will always be in safe hands while we’ve got honest people sitting in that room. Honesty is the most important thing for any transition. It is not about phasing out senior players or getting the youngsters in. The only thing that can keep you in that dressing room is the performance, and it starts from all of us.”
One sore point for many observers of the MCG Test, not least Sunil Gavaskar, were the dismissals of Rishabh Pant to a pair of aggressive shots when India may have been better-served by a more considered approach.
Gambhir refused to speak directly about Rishabh, but when asked about the “natural tendency” of some players to go on the attack, he emphasised the need for Test match players to put the team first and play the situation. It was the first time Gambhir had spoken since lashing out at Ricky Ponting when the team departed for Australia.
“There is only one tendency and only one discussion. It’s the team first and it’s the team first ideology that matters,” Gambhir said. “It’s a team sport, and you’ve got to play what the team needs you to do. People can play their natural game, but still in a team sport, individuals only contribute.
“In the team, if you need to play in a certain way, I think you’ve got to do it. You have to expect players to do what the team needs you to do. Whether you’ve got to bat sessions, whether they’ve got to be attacking, because that’s all that matters in a team sport.”
Rishabh Pant of India looks dejected after being dismissed by Scott Boland at the MCG on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images
While Bumrah holds universal respect in the Indian side, the presence and role of Virat Kohli has also been the cause of some conjecture. He has been an increasingly vocal presence on the field during the series, often appearing to direct field placings, although he has struggled outside off stump with the bat.
Wily spinner Ravichandran Ashwin retired after the Brisbane Test match, a call that Rohit said had been delayed because he prevailed upon Ashwin to make himself available for the pink ball Test in Adelaide.
Shane Watson, who was once elbowed by Gambhir during a Test match, said the balance between team and individual plans had become more fraught in the Twenty20 age.
“Things have evolved a lot in Test cricket. A number of the shots that players do take on now certainly weren’t in my shot vocabulary at all,” Watson said. “Thinking you could play a reverse sweep or a switch hit to fast bowling was something that I never would’ve contemplated.
“I know if I did when Ricky Ponting was captain or Michael Clarke was captain I wouldn’t have been welcomed back into the dressing room. But it can be incredibly effective and has been for these batters. So they have to push that fine line and hope that they fall on the right side of that line more often than not.
“But when they fall on the other side, because it is high risk and it is premeditated, that’s when coaches, teammates but also the media will come down pretty hard, because it doesn’t look great at that moment. but that’s also what makes these players so devastating when they get it right.”
Gambhir spoke most ardently of managing a transition for the team, pointing to the impressive signs shown by the likes of Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar and Deep.
News, results and expert analysis from the weekend of sport are sent every Monday. Sign up for our Sport newsletter.
