Pathan makes stunning U-turn after supporting Rohit during viral interview in Australia: ‘If he was not captain...'

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Irfan Pathan also opened up on his viral interview of Rohit Sharma on the official broadcaster during the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney, insisting that he was being polite to the star cricketer who had opted to sit out of the series finale after a horrendous run with the bat.
Irfan Pathan felt that Rohit Sharma would have been dropped from the Indian Test team ahead of the tour of Australia had he not been captain. Image: AP/PTI
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan claims that he was being polite to Rohit Sharma in an interview during the tour of Australia, adding that the 'Hitman' would not have even retained his place in the playing XI had he not been captain at the time.
Rohit had been having a horrid run in Test cricket after leading the Men in Blue to victory in the T20 World Cup, whether against Bangladesh and New Zealand at home or in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. And after skipping the first Test against Australia in Perth, Rohit could manage just 31 runs in the next three games at miserable average of 6.2.
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Rohit later opted out of the fifth Test in Sydney, handing the reins back to star pacer Jasprit Bumrah who had captained the side to a 295-run victory in the tour opener. However, in a defiant interview with the broadcasters conducted by Pathan, Rohit maintained that he was not done with the Test format yet.
'You have invited him, so you will behave politely'
'Rohit Sharma is an amazing player in white-ball cricket, but his average in Test cricket that year was 6, so we said that if he was not the captain, he would not have had a place in the team, and this is true,' Pathan told Lallantop.
'People say that we supported Rohit Sharma more than necessary. Of course, when someone comes to interview on your broadcasting channel, you will not misbehave with them, right? You have invited him, so you will behave politely.
'When Rohit came to interview, we were, of course, polite, and we had to show that, because he was our guest. So that was connected and said we were supporting him, but it was we who said… we had said that he should keep fighting, but that said, he should not have had a place in the playing XI. If he was not the captain of the team, he would have been dropped,' the former pacer added.
Despite expressing his desire to lead the side in the tour of England, Rohit would announce his retirement from Test cricket in May, with batting icon and former captain Virat Kohli following suit just a few days later.
The tour of Australia, where India surrendered the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in nearly a decade, turned out to be the final appearance in whites for both stalwarts, who currently remain active only in One-Day Internationals. It also marked the final appearance in an Indian kit for spin legend Ravichandran Ashwin, who retired from all forms of international cricket midway during the tour.
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