Ravi Shastri anticipates Rohit Sharma’s Test cricket exit

Former India coach Ravi Shastri on Friday expressed his belief that skipper Rohit Sharma might soon "pull the plug" on his Test career after being excluded from the fifth Test against Australia in Sydney.

The 37-year-old opener has endured a lacklustre series, and his omission from the pre-match press conference hinted at a potential decision looming.

Instead, coach Gautam Gambhir addressed the media but refrained from offering unequivocal support for Rohit, adding to speculation about the future of the veteran cricketer in red-ball cricket.

Stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah insisted at the coin toss Friday that Rohit had "opted to rest" for the good of the team rather than being forced out.

But Shastri suspects it is the end of Rohit's 67-Test career, predicting a retirement announcement after the game.

"It still is a brave call for a captain to own up and say, 'I'm prepared to take the bench in this game,'" Shastri said while commentating on Fox Sports.

"If there was a home season coming up he might've thought of carrying on, but I think he might just pull the plug at the end of this Test.

"It's not that India don't have youngsters. There are very, very good players in the wings and it's time to build.

"Tough decisions, but there is a time for everything."

Rohit quit T20 international cricket last year after lifting the World Cup, but is yet to call time on his ODI career.

He missed the first Test in Perth for the birth of his second child and has not looked fully engaged since, failing to get past 10 runs in any of his five innings.

His recent form comes on the back of a similarly poor return during India's 3-0 home series loss to New Zealand during October-November.

"Our captain has shown his leadership, he's opted to rest in this game," Bumrah said at the toss.

"So that shows there's a lot of unity in our team, there's no selfishness, whatever is in the team's best interest, we are looking to do that."

Should Rohit call it quits, it would be the second retirement of the tour with off-spinning great Ravichandran Ashwin heading home after the third Test at the Gabba.

Ashwin was not selected for Brisbane, which appeared to be the final straw for the 38-year-old.