India cricket captain, Rohit Sharma, finally broke silence on opting out of the Sydney Test during the Border-Gavaskar Trohpy, where India lost the series to Australia 1-3 for the time in a decade.

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Now, months later, Rohit Sharma cleared the air while talking to former Australia captain Michael Clarke on Beyond23 Cricket Podcast. Rohit recalled his chat with head coach Gautam Gambhir and the chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar before the game, adding that the two had different views after informing them that he won't play in Sydney.

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Speaking on the decision to drop himself, Rohit suggested he wanted Shubman Gill to play the series decider as the latter had missed the game prior to the one in Sydney.

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'I had to be honesy with myself'

"In the last Test match in Sydney, I had to be honest with myself. I was not hitting the ball well. And I didn't want to put myself there only because we had a lot of the other guys who were struggling as well. When you add yourself in there, it just becomes a little more... And we wanted Gill to play. He is such a good player. He missed out in the previous Test," said Rohit.

"I was like, 'Okay, if I'm not hitting the ball well, it's right now.' Things can change ten days later, five days later. I spoke to the coach and the selector, who was there on the tour. They kind of agreed - not agreed. There was an argument around it. You try and put the team first and just look at what the team wants and make the decision accordingly. Sometimes it may work, sometimes it may not. So that's how it goes," he added.

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The India skipper added that ever since he took over captaincy, his focus has been on putting the team ahead of individual goals. "Every decision you try and make, you are not guaranteed success. Since I started captaining the national team, not just me, I wanted the rest of the guys also to think alike - try and put the team first and do what's necessary for the team and not worry too much about 'my runs, my scores,' and stuff like that. It's important because you are playing a team sport," Rohit concluded.