“None of the three things (smiles). I stood down. This is what I say. Stand down,” Rohit told Star Sports. “I will say a few words, fifty words will be made out of it. The chat that I had with the coach and captain was very simple, I am not making runs. So basically, I am not in form, it is an important match, we need players in form, the boys in our batting are not in form, so you cannot carry too many out-of-form players in the team. So it was difficult for me to make this decision, but if everything is put in front of us, then this decision was sensible. I will not think too much ahead, what the team needed at this time, this was the only thought, and there was no other thought apart from that.”
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???? EXCLUSIVE: @ImRo45 sets the record straight on his selfless gesture during the SCG Test. Watch his full interview at 12:30 PM only on Cricket Live! #AUSvINDOnStar ???? 5th Test, Day 2 | LIVE NOW | #BorderGavaskarTrophy #ToughestRivalry #RohitSharma pic.twitter.com/uyQjHftg8u
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Australia’s star batter of a generation, Steve Smith, fell just short of an illustrious career milestone and a Jasprit Bumrah-led India took the advantage the second day of the fifth and final test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Smith fell five runs short of passing 10,000 test runs just moments before lunch Saturday and capped a tumble of wickets for the hosts as it slipped to 101-5, trailing India’s 185 by 84 runs.
New India captain Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj took two wickets each, with Prasidh Krishna picking up the prized wicket of Smith (33). At the break debutant Beau Webster was 28 not out and Alex Carey was unbeaten on four. Resuming Saturday at 9-1, it did not take long for Bumrah (2-27) to again make his influence count as he had Marnus Labuschagne (2) edge behind for his second wicket.
The resumption of the burgeoning rivalry between Bumrah and Sam Konstas was what the capacity SCG crowd came to see and it didn’t disappoint as the 19-year-old opener charged down the wicket to smash a four straight down the ground past the non-plussed bowler. From Bumrah’s next over, Konstas (23) produced a ramp shot — which had featured heavily in his much-hyped debut innings in Melbourne — for another boundary.
But the young player’s luck ran out in the next over from Siraj (2-28) when a thick edge carried to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully. Siraj also removed Travis Head (4) in the same over as Australia slid to 39-4. Smith and Webster combined to stabilize Australia’s innings with a 57-run stand but just as the pair looked to have the measure of India’s second-line bowlers, a seaming delivery from Krishna (1-21) found the edge and was snaffled by KL Rahul at slip.
On Friday, despite the absence of struggling captain Rohit Sharma, India’s batting order again crumbled as it was bowled out for 185 with Scott Boland taking 4-31. Bumrah then struck with the final ball of the to cap a drama-fueled final over which saw Konstas and the new tourist skipper needing to be separated after a terse verbal exchange just two balls prior.
Australia leads the series 2-1 and must avoid defeat to regain the Border-Gavaskar trophy for the first time since 2014-15. A win by India and a drawn series at 2-2 would allow the visitors to retain the trophy for a record-extending fifth consecutive time. A win for Australia at the SCG would book the team’s spot in a second straight World Test Championship final where it would play the already-qualified South Africa at Lord’s in June.
