‘Rohit Sharma wouldn't have been in XI without captaincy': Irfan Pathan says he was compelled to support star batter in Sydney Test interview
'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 said in a teaser video released by Lallantop on Wednesday.
'It was difficult for me to take this decision but if everything is put in front of us, then this decision was sensible, and I will not think too much ahead. What the team needed at this time, this was the only thought, and there was no other thought apart from that,' Rohit added.
'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,' Pathan said.
Rohit returned to form in white-ball cricket and led India to the Champions Trophy title in March before calling it quits from the longest format in May during the IPL 2025 season.
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