Rohit Sharma opted out of the fifth and final Test, of the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), between India and Australia, which got underway at the SCG, Sydney, on Friday (Jan 3). The Indian captain was 'rested' amid criticism for his poor form in the series Down Under. With Hitman opting out, former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar made a bold claim, saying 'he has played his last Test'.

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'To me, it looks that the Melbourne Test would be Rohit Sharma's last'

Gavaskar said on Star Sports, "I think what it probably means is that India don't qualify for the World Test Championship final. To me, it looks that the Melbourne Test would be Rohit Sharma's last game. The new cycle of the World Test Championship will start from the England series, so they will look to have somebody who will be available for 2027 final. Whether India gets to the final or not is another matter, but I think that's what the selection committee will do. Therefore maybe we've probably seen Rohit Sharma for the last time in Test cricket."

Also read: BGT: Shastri expects Rohit to take call on Test career after SCG game

"At the end of the day he's also part of the selection committee. What happens in Indian cricket is there is a selection committee which chooses the squad to go to travel overseas. Then when you come overseas, the captain, the coach, and I think if there's one selector, they generally form the selection committee. I believe the chairman of the selection committee, Ajit Agarar here in town, so he would have been part of the call that was taken. Maybe some of the senior players in the team would have been asked," Gavaskar further added.

Rohit has had a poor run in the five-match series in Australia.

He missed the BGT 2024-25 series opener, which India won in Perth under vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah.

Since he came back, things went downhill for the visitors. Rohit was criticised for his captaincy calls and scores of 3, 6, 10, 3 and 9 in the series. In 2024, he ended with 619 runs in Tests, at an average of 24.76. 

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri also opined on Rohit.

He said on Star Sports, "If there was a home season coming up, he might have thought of carrying on, but I think he might just pull the plug at the end of this Test. He's not getting younger, he's 38 years of age. It's not that India don't have youngsters, there are some very, very good players in the wings, and it's time to build. It's a tough decision, but there's a time for everything."

In 67 Tests, Rohit has 4,301 runs at an average of 40.57 with 12 centuries and 18 half-centuries under his belt.

Talking about the ongoing BGT, Bumrah is leading India in the series finale with the visitors trailing 2-1 with a need of a win to end the series at 2-2.