Rohit Sharma's omission from the fifth Australia Test on Friday was "emotional", wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant said, as former India coach Ravi Shastri predicted the skipper will "pull the plug" on his red-ball career.
The acclaimed 37-year-old opener Rohit has had a poor series and the writing was on the wall when he fa
iled to show up for India's pre-match press conference.
Coach Gautam Gambhir instead fronted the media Thursday and declined to throw his support behind him, with the visitors down 2-1 in the series going into the final Test.
Stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah insisted at the coin toss at the Sydney Cricket Ground that Rohit had "opted to rest" for the good of the team rather than being forced out.
After a first day that belonged to Australia, Pant said: "It was definitely an emotional decision because he's been captain for a long time.
"We see him as a leader of the team but there's some decisions that you are not involved in. It is a management call and I was not part of that conversation."
Shastri believes Rohit jumped rather than was pushed, but suspects it is the end of his 67-Test career.
"It still is a brave call for a captain to own up and say, 'I'm prepared to take the bench in this game'," Shastri said while commentating on Fox Sports.
"If there was a home season coming up he might've thought of carrying on, but I think he might just pull the plug at the end of this Test.
"It's not that India don't have youngsters. There are very, very good players in the wings and it's time to build.
"Tough decisions, but there is a time for everything."
- 'Shown his leadership' -
Rohit quit T20 international cricket last year after lifting the World Cup, but is yet to call time on his ODI career.
He missed the first Test in Perth for the birth of his second child and has not looked fully engaged since, failing to get past 10 runs in any of his five innings.
His recent form comes on the back of a similarly poor return during India's 3-0 home series loss to New Zealand during October-November.
"Our captain has shown his leadership, he's opted to rest in this game," Bumrah said at the toss.
"So that shows there's a lot of unity in our team, there's no selfishness. Whatever is in the team's best interest, we are looking to do that."
Should Rohit quit Tests, it would be the second high-profile Indian retirement of the tour with off-spinning great Ravichandran Ashwin heading home after the third Test at the Gabba.
Ashwin was not selected for Brisbane, which appeared to be the final straw for the 38-year-old.
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Former batsman Sanjay Manjrekar praised Rohit, saying he was "doing what is right for the team".