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India coach refuses to confirm whether captain Rohit Sharma will play Sydney Check

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India coach Gautam Gambhir has refused to guarantee that under-fire captain Rohit Sharma will play in the fifth and decisive Test against Australia at the SCG.

Gambhir confirmed to the media on Thursday that quick Akash Deep would miss Friday’s Test with a back injury, in a guaranteed move for Sydney.

But he was asked directly why embattled captain Rohit was not holding the pre-match press conference and whether it had anything to do with his place in the Sydney team.

“Everything is fine with Rohit,” he said, adding that the coach’s speech “should be good enough.”

“We will take a look at the wicket and probably announce our XI tomorrow.”

Jasprit Bumrah (left) captained India in the first Test before Rohit Sharma (right) returned. (Getty Images: Darrian Traynor)

Asked again if he could guarantee the starting job, Gambhir replied: “The answer remains the same.”

While Australia captain Pat Cummins has already confirmed that Mitch Marsh would be dropped by Beau Webster, India previously broke with tradition of the captain fronting the media the day before this summer’s Tests, with Shubman Gill in front of the media the day before the Gabba test.

Gambhir also spoke in place of Rohit at Wednesday night’s prime minister’s event at Kirribilli House.

Rohit is yet to get past 10 in any of his five innings in the series since missing the first Test to stay home for the birth of his son, but was still picked ahead of Gill for the final match in Melbourne, where he moved to his traditional starting position, forcing the in-form KL Rahul into the number three spot.

The Indian captain did not feature in the slip cordon at Thursday’s practice that at times included Gill, Virat Kohli and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.

There were also questions about Rishabh’s place after his two nasty dismissals at the MCG, including the unnecessary shot that started the rot in the final session of the fifth day.

Rishabh Pant was the hero when India won the series in 2021, but his dismissals in Melbourne raised eyebrows. (AAP:James Ross)

Indian megastar Kohli is also under pressure, his unbeaten 100 in the second innings in Perth seems like an eternity ago as he posts scores of 5, 7, 11, 3, 36 and 5 for the series.

Like Australia, the tourists face a transition period in the coming years, but Gambhir said selections would be based on performance and not age.

“Indian cricket will always be in good hands (as long as) you have honest people sitting in that room. Honesty is the most important thing for any transition,” he said.

“It’s not about phasing out older players or bringing in young players; Ultimately, the only thing that can keep you in that locker room is performance.”

Gambhir also took aim at suggestions that he had let out his fury at the Indian players following their final day defeat in Melbourne.

According to a report in the Indian Categorical, Gambhir told the players that he had “had enough,” unhappy with them playing their own game and not the team’s.

“They were just reports, that’s not the truth,” Gambhir said.

“And I don’t think I need to respond to reports. There were some honest words, and honesty is very important if you want to move forward and achieve great things.

“What matters is the ideology of the team first. It’s a team sport and you need to play what the team needs you to do.

“People can play their natural game, but in a team sport only individuals contribute. If you need to play a certain way, I think you have to do it.”

India needs to win the fifth and final Test at the SCG to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, while Australia, which leads 2-1, can win the series for the first time since 2015 with a win or a draw.

“We have to fight and that is probably one area where we have been lacking in the series,” Gambhir said.

“We know we have the skills, we have the people, we have everything in that dressing room to be able to win a test match here.

“Not just here, but we will probably do some amazing things in the future as well.”

AAP/ABC

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