Ravi Shastri reached out to Rohit Sharma in Mumbai, told him he didn't agree with Gambhir: 'Put my hand on his shoulder'

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has revealed that he met Rohit Sharma before he announced his retirement from Test cricket. Shastri, who was in charge during Rohit's rise, recalled reaching out to the India captain to tell him that he believed in him and that he did not agree with how he was treated during the final Test against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January earlier this year. Ravi Shastri, left, has often conducted tosses featuring Rohit Sharma(AFP)

Rohit Sharma was dropped from the series decider at the SCG. Struggling with poor form, with scores of 3, 6, 10, 3 and 9, the management felt that with the series still alive; the team would be better off without Rohit. It decided to play Shubman Gill instead, but to no avail as Australia beat India by six wickets to clinch the series 3-1 and reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after 8 years. Shastri, in conversation on the ICC Review Show, said that had he been the coach, Rohit would have never been dropped, conveying the same to the 38-year-old.

Also Read: Ravi Shastri discloses chat with Virat Kohli a week before Test retirement

"I saw Rohit a lot at the toss. At the toss, you don't get enough time to speak. Though I did put my hand on his shoulder in one of the games. I think it was in Mumbai, and I told him, if I was the coach you would have never not played that last Test match. You would have played that last Test match because the series wasn't over. And I'm not someone who threw in the towel with the scoreline 2-1. If your mindset is you feel you are… that's not the stage, you leave a team."

Other people have different styles: Ravi Shastri

Back then, Rohit held himself responsible. He went on record saying that the decision not to play the Sydney Test was his alone, but if Shastri's next remarks are anything to go by, the ball could have well been in current coach Gautam Gambhir's court. Rohit was all over the place in the Australia series, looking at sixes and sevens irrespective of the position he was batting in. In his final Test outing, he tried to grit it out but perished to Pat Cummins.

Still, Shastri, under whom Rohit found his second wind in Tests when he started opening for India in September of 2019, is of the belief that a player like Rohit needed just one solid knock, and the conditions and pitch at the SCG could have been that game.

"That was a 30-40 run game. And that's exactly what I told him. The pitch was so spicy in Sydney. Whatever kind of form he was in, he's a match-winner. If he had gone, sensed the situation, sensed the condition and smashed it for even 35-40 at the top, you never know. That series would have been level. But that's each one to his own. Other people have different styles. This would have been my style, and I let him know it. It's sitting in my heart for a long time. I had to get it out. And I told him that," Shastri said.

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