SYDNEY: Australian batting great Ricky Ponting on Friday admitted he was "surprised" by the Indian camp's wording regarding Rohit Sharma's absence from the fifth and final Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. However, Ponting acknowledged that the move was on expected lines.
The match began on Friday, with the visitors aiming for a win to level the series and retain the trophy. Jasprit Bumrah, who stepped in as captain, revealed at the toss that Rohit had "opted to rest" from the Sydney Test.
Ponting, speaking to The ICC Review, remarked, "I think the reaction has been that they all sort of expected that it might happen. The chat's been for the last couple of days that everyone expected that Rohit would not play this game, that Shubman Gill would come back in and that (Jasprit) Bumrah would probably take over the captaincy again, and that's the way it's turned out."
Given the circumstances, Ponting supported the decision of the woefully out-of-form Rohit to miss the decider at the SCG. However, the former Australia captain was taken aback by the language used to describe the development.
"I was very surprised when I heard the term 'opting out' coming into such an important game," Ponting said.
"We know he's been a great stalwart for Indian cricket over a long period. So the way that they've actually worded it, you can only take it on face value. We've got to believe what we're hearing coming out of the Indian camp, but being such a big game, knowing that they have to win this one to retain the trophy, it was an interesting time for one of their more experienced players to opt out."
The 37-year-old white-ball great appeared a pale shadow of his former self throughout the ongoing series Down Under. He struggled to execute even his signature shots, including the trademark front-foot pull.
During the customary pre-match warm-up session, Rohit was spotted playing football with Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, and Sarfaraz Khan. Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sarfaraz will conclude the series without playing a single match.
Ponting did not explicitly say it, but he hinted that this could mark the end of Rohit's Test career.
"You'd think it's probably a long way back for Rohit Sharma now in this format of the game," Ponting observed. "India don't play a Test match, I believe, until the middle or late June, which is a long way away when you're sort of coming to the back end of your career."
"I think he's been a terrific player for India so with those sort of guys, you wish them all the best and hope to see them back out there again. But as I said, I think it will be a long—and probably difficult—road back for him."
Ponting believes Kohli's catch was clean
Ponting also weighed in on the controversial catch involving Virat Kohli. The Indian star edged a length delivery from Scott Boland to second slip, where Steve Smith dived low to his right to grab the ball. Smith then flicked it upward towards gully, where Marnus Labuschagne completed the catch.
However, the decision was referred to the TV umpire, who eventually ruled Kohli not out.
"I was in the back of the (commentary) box as it happened, and from what I saw, and what I believe to be the interpretation of the rules, that seemed to be out to me," Ponting said.
"The ball may have touched the ground. It may not have touched the ground, but the fact that his right index finger was still underneath the ball, I thought it was a clear catch."
The incident occurred in the eighth over, on the first ball Kohli faced. Ponting admitted the limited angles available did not help.
"It might be one of those that depends which dressing room he's (Kohli) sitting in as well. Every Indian fan and Indian player will say that's not out as it clearly touched the ground, but you could tell by the reaction of the Australians when it happened, and even when they saw the replay on the big screen, that they were all pretty confident that it was out. I'm sure over the course of this Test match we'll talk about it a whole lot more," Ponting said.
