'A captain never delinks from his ship, even if it's a sinking ship' - Navjot Sidhu condemns dropping Rohit Sharma for SCG Test

There was a mixed reaction from the cricket fraternity after Rohit Sharma decided to "opt out" of the fifth and final Test of the ongoing edition of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. There was no doubt that a definite decision was bound to be made regarding his place in the side, owing to his poor run in the red-ball side with the bat as well as the results which India were producing under his captaincy in the recent past.

However, the manner in which Rohit was excluded from the setup, especially ahead of a crucial Test, regardless of the past performances of him, was something which Navjot Sidhu could not quite digest. Just after the news was confirmed, the cricketer-turned-commentator uploaded a monologue of himself addressing the issue on his official account on X.

A Captain should never be dropped midstream nor given the option to opt out … sends wrong signals …. Have seen Captain s like Mark Taylor , Azharuddin etc persisted as captain for a year despite bad form …. @ImRo45 deserved more respect and faith from the management …… pic.twitter.com/OJcSF9r3fU

— Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) January 3, 2025

"It's quite strange that Rohit Sharma, the skipper of the Indian team, has been excluded from the team today. It's bizarre, it's strange, simply because of the fact that this has happened for the first time in Indian cricket history that a captain has sat out. If that's the case, don't make him the captain in the first place. However, if you have made him one, that too a great player who has been a grand servant of Indian cricket, then it shouldn't matter whether his form is right or not," shared Sidhu.

Also Read: Can't understand the ‘cloak & dagger’ around Rohit Sharma's exclusion from Sydney Test: Sanjay Manjrekar

Sidhu further went onto share that not only does it send a wrong impression to the team members, but also to the opposition as well. According to him, contrary to the general consensus, it was a wrong decision on the team management's part to leave out Rohit from the squad.