Out-of-form India captain Rohit Sharma set to be 'rested' in Sydney Test: Reports

The fifth Test will begin on Friday.

With Rohit warming up the bench, India's vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah will lead the team. Bumrah has already successfully captained India in the first Test against Australia in Rohit's absence.

If Rohit is rested, it means the 37-year-old cricket star has already played his last game as he is not in all probability set to continue playing Tests after BGT 2024.

The reports about Rohit's possible omission from the team gained steam after India's head coach Gautam Gambhir addressed the pre-match presser instead of the skipper, who usually meets the reporters on the eve of the match.

Giving more wings to the speculations, Gambhir refused to confirm Rohit's presence in the squad for the Sydney Test.

He said, "Everything is fine with Rohit and I don't think it's anything traditional. The head coach is here and that should be good enough. We are going to have a look at the wicket and finalise it tomorrow."

When he was pressed further, the coach said, "As I just said we are going to have a look at the wicket and announce our playing XI tomorrow. The answer remains the same."

Later, Rohit was spotted heading to the nets for practice.

India, who are now trailing the hosts 1-2, will play their fifth and last Test against Australia in Sydney. The match will be held on January 3-7.

As per the points table, India, who were defeated by Australia in the fourth Test by 184 runs, can only qualify for the World Test Championship final if they win the Sydney contest and Australia fail to register a single victory in their upcoming two-match Sri Lanka series.

If India qualify for the WTC final, Rohit may convince the selectors to allow him to play the closing match next year, reports suggest.

Rohit, who had skipped the inaugural Test in Perth, has so far scored only 31 runs in five innings, raising questions on his batting ability at the age of 37.

India have suffered multiple batting collapses in their Australia tour with the senior batters failing to fire on most occasions.

While Virat Kohli slammed a hundred in Perth and got a few starts elsewhere, India's vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah has been sensational with his bowling picking 30 wickets so far in the high-voltage series.

Rohit, who quit the shortest format of the sport soon after winning the T20 World Cup earlier this year, has never looked in touch against the mighty Aussie bowling unit that picked seven wickets in the final session on day five in Melbourne on Monday to take the 2-1 lead.

"I stand where I am standing today - Few results didn't go our way as a captain and batter it is disappointing," Rohit said. "Mentally it's disturbing but as of now that is where it is, there are things we as a team and I need to look at."