"Forced Retirement?": Rohit Sharma's Name Goes Missing From 16-Member India Team List Too, Internet Furious

All speculations proved true on Friday as Rohit Sharma missed the fifth India vs Australia Test in Sydney. Stand-in skipper Jasprit Bumrah won the toss and decided to bat against Pat Cummins' Australia in a Test that will decide India's fate as far as World Test Championship final qualification is concerned. Rohit Sharma scored 31 runs in five innings across three Tests and there was a growing feeling that his end was near.

The 37-year-old white-ball great looked like a pale shadow of himself in those innings, struggling to execute even his bread and butter shots including the trademark front foot pull.

During the customary pre-match warm-up session, Rohit was seen playing football with Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan, who is ending the series without getting a game.

After this, Rohit was seen engaged in a discussion with the team's video analyst Hari Prasad. He left the outfield close to the toss time before Bumrah walked out to a loud roar from the capacity crowd.

When the TV cameras panned on him, Rohit was seen sitting outside the dressing room with fielding coach Ryan Ten Doeschate by his side. Head coach Gautam Gambhir sat a distance from the duo. Interestingly, Rohit's name was missing from team sheet that has the names of all players available, including substitutes and reserves. Only injured Akash Deep and Rohit's names were missing.

Rohit Sharma isn't just missing from the playing XI; he's not even part of the 16-player squad. Yet, commentators are saying that Rohit has “opted to rest.”

Why not simply say he's been dropped?#RohitSharma