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3 Players Who Can Replace Rohit Sharma In India’s Playing XI In 5th Test Vs Australia At SCG

Aashay Chopade

Rohit Sharma after his failure at MCG (Source: AP Photos)Rohit Sharma after his failure at MCG (Source: AP Photos)

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The stage is set for the final battle of what has been an enthrallling Test series between two world-class teams, India and Australia. Pat Cummins and his boys have taken a 2-1 lead in the series after India started off with a win, and it would be interesting to see how things finish at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground.

The Qualification for World Test Championship is also on the line and India need to win this game to keep their hopes alive. So, the pressure naturally is more on the visitors and their skipper Rohit Sharma is the one who is at the centre of criticism because of his dismal performance with the bat and as a leader.

There are reports that he would be dropped for the final Test with team management looking for a win at any cost. Rohit has scored just 31 runs in five innings of this BGT so far and with plenty of quality batters at India's disposal, the Indian skipper might sit out at SCG. Let's now see who could be his replacements in the final Test.

Shubman Gill

The young batter is the front-runner to take a place in the playing XI, if Rohit Sharma misses out. KL Rahul might go back at the top of the order where he has been successful in this series while Gill can take his number 3 position where he has come up with decent returns in recent past.

Gill has played two Tests in this series and after a failure at Gabba, the stylish right-hander was surprisingly dropped for the fourth Test. However, he looked in good touch in both the innings of the Adelaide Test where he got starts, but could not convert it and also scored a fifty in a practice game too. Gill was also among the runs in the home series against the Kiwis where he scored 90 in the final Test.

Overall, Gill scored 866 runs at an average of 43.30 in the longest format last year with three hundreds in it and has the talent to take India to better position if he replaces out-of-form Rohit Sharma.

Dhruv Jurel

Dhruv Jurel is just four Tests old but has already shown that he has the temperament and skills to succeed at the highest level for a long time. He played the first Test of the series in Perth, but could not deliver and found himself out of XI with Rohit and Gill returning from the second bout.

The final Test though provides a great opportunity to rope in a talent like Dhruv Jurel. The Indian wicketkeeper displayed great skills in tough batting conditions during the encounter against Australia A and scored twin fifties when all other batters struggled, kind of knocks India need with the batting group failing at regular intervals. 

Also, Jurel has shown a great ability to bat with the tail and take the game forward, something which could be critical in the pressure game at SCG.

Sarfaraz Khan

The right-handed middle order batter has not played a single game in this series and he would be itching to prove a point. Sarfaraz has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket and carried that form into international cricket as well, scoring three fifties and a century so far. 

He failed in the last two Tests against the Kiwis, and some concerns over his technique has not helped his cause. However, the man has a first-class average of 65.61 with 16 hundreds and surely knows how to craft his runs. 

Also, Sarfaraz was in great form before failing in the two Tests against New Zealand with double century and 150 under his belt and it is a great opportunity to try out a player with no baggage of failure in Australia. The Mumbai batter is also known for making strong comebacks after setbacks, and the final Test at SCG with pitch expected to be bit slow than other tracks in Australia is a perfect opportunity to unleash Sarfaraz Khan.