BGT: Pant Says Rohit is Seen as the Leader of the Team Despite His Exclusion

As speculation did suggest that Rohit Sharma may not play the next Test, in case of it being his last game for the Indian national team, while the skipper has also decided to rest in the fifth and final Test here at the Sydney Cricket Ground, wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant referred to this decision as emotional.

"It was an emotional decision because he's been the captain for a long time. We see him as the leader of the team. There are some decisions that you are not involved with, it was a call by the management and I was not a part of that conversation so can't explain further," said Pant at the end of the day press conference.

Rohit has averaged just 6.2 from the three Tests he played against Australia with the highest score of 10. Speculation around him not playing at Sydney emerged after head coach Gautam Gambhir refused to term him as a guaranteed starter in the pre-match press conference.

Sharma's decision to pull out opened the door for vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah to lead the side in India in the series-decider. The 27-year old continued to underpin the assertion that the Indian spearhead approaches the game well.

The message (from Bumrah) is to be positive all the time, don't think about what has already happened and. just give your best on the field. That's what you want from your captain, being in a positive frame of mind and keep moving the game forward each and every day," he added.

Pant was India's highest scorer on Day 1 as he had scored 40 runs off 98 deliveries in an innings which contained three boundaries and one six. Pant's wicket led to a late collapse with Nitish Kumar Reddy getting caught at slips in the very next delivery. Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar's wicket came within no time, but the way of the latter's dismissal sparked much controversy.

Sundar was given out caught behind off Australian captain Pat Cummins. The on-field umpire, Saikat Sharfuddoula, had initially given Sundar not out, but Australia exercised their review.

Joel Wilson spent much time analyzing the replays to determine whether Sundar had gloved the short-pitched delivery. The Snickometer showed a spike as the ball passed near Sundar's glove, but the visuals raised questions. One frame appeared to show no spike when the ball was closest to the glove, while the subsequent frame captured a spike.

Pant carried on with claims that there's not much to say about the decision but called for a better use of technology in order to provide conclusive results.

"There's not much to say because technology is one part which you as a cricketer can't control. I feel whatever decision is made on the field has to stay with the on-field umpire, unless it's so conclusive to change the decision. End of the day it's the umpire's decision and I can't challenge it every time but the technology can be a little better," he said.