Rohit Sharma set to rest all speculation on Saturday by announcing that his decision to sit out of the Sydney Test shouldn’t be interpreted as retirement and he was confident that “things can change” and those with a “microphone, pen or laptop can’t decide when we should retire”.
The Telegraph had reported on Friday that Rohit had opted out of the final Test and it was not forced upon him by head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar.
“This decision is not a retirement decision,” Rohit said on Star Sports during the lunch break on Day II of the Sydney Test. “Nor am I going to take myself out of the game... I am not going anywhere.
“I sat out of this match because runs are not coming off my bat. There is no guarantee runs won’t come five or two months down the line. I have seen a lot in cricket and life changes every second, every minute, every day.
“I have confidence in me that things can change, but at the same time, I have to be realistic as well. So life won’t change by what people with a microphone, pen or laptop write or say. They can’t decide when we should retire, when we should sit out, when we should captain. I am a sensible man, a mature man, father of two kids... So I know what I need in life.”
Head coach Gambhir had added to the intrigue on Thursday, by refusing to comment on Rohit’s availability on the eve of the Test.
“I made this decision after coming here (Sydney),” Rohit said. “We had only two days between the matches. On New Year’s Day, I didn’t want to have this chat with the selector and the coach. But it was in my mind that I am trying my best but I am not getting the runs. I have to accept it and have to get myself out of the way.
“The chat that I had with the coach and the selector was very simple: I’m not scoring runs, I am not in form, this is an important match, and we need players who are in form. As it is, we aren’t in great form. So I had this simple thought in my mind: we can’t carry out-of-form players.
“That’s why I thought I should tell the coach and the selector what’s going on in my mind. They backed my decision. They said you have been playing for so many years, you are the best judge of what you are doing.”
Rohit also opened up about his captaincy ideology.
“What happens in leadership is that you will not have good days every day. You have to accept that. And suddenly, what you were doing well for three months does not turn bad in the next three months. Your ideas and mindset are the same,” Rohit said.
“The same mindset, same ideology, same thought process... But sometimes when the result doesn’t come, you think, what is he doing? This is useless... I don’t want to change my ideology about captaincy...
“I know we live in India where 140 crore people will judge us. No problem... I know what I am doing is right. I can be wrong too. Yesterday, I took a decision that I should have batted... But actually I should have bowled. But that doesn’t mean that your thinking is bad.”
