Cricket - Fifth Test - India v England - Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamshala, India - March 7, 2024 India's Rohit Sharma in action REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/ File Photo
SYDNEY (Reuters) - India coach Gautam Gambhir declined to confirm that captain Rohit Sharma would play the fifth test against Australia, committing only to naming the team before the toss on Friday.
Skipper Rohit has struggled for runs in the first four tests of the five-match series, which India trail 2-1 after a loss in Melbourne earlier this week.
Asked on Thursday why the coach was taking the pre-match conference rather than the captain as is usual, Gambhir bridled.
"Everything is fine with Rohit and I don't think it's anything traditional," he told reporters at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
"The head coach is here, that should be fine, that should be good enough. We're going to have a look at the wicket and finalise (our team) tomorrow."
When asked specifically whether Rohit would be in that team, Gambhir was non-committal.
"As I just said, we're going to have a look at the wicket and probably announce the playing XI tomorrow. So the answer remains the same."
Gambhir did confirm that pace bowler Akash Deep was out of the match with a back issue and denied media reports that he had read the riot act to his team after the loss in Melbourne.
"Those are just reports," he said. "That's not the truth, and I don't think I need to answer to any reports.
"There were some honest words, that's all I can say. Honesty is extremely important if you want to probably go on to do great things."
Gambhir spoke repeatedly about the importance of honesty within the dressing room but said no specific discussions had been held with Rohit and his predecessor as captain Virat Kohli about their roles in the future of the Indian team.
"The only conversation was how we can win the next test match," he said. "No other conversation has taken place, because we know how important this test is."
Gambhir said he had every confidence that India would win the match to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy and keep alive their hopes of a spot in this year's World Test Championship final against South Africa.
"Extremely, extremely confident," he said. "We've got the skill set, we've got the individuals. We've got everything in that dressing room that can win a test match here.
"Not only here, probably (to) go on to do some unbelievable things in the future as well. So extremely confident."
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
