'Pull the plug': Indian legend calls for skipper Rohit Sharma to retire after 'bold' SCG dumping

Indian legend Ravi Shastri believes skipper Rohit Sharma will "pull the plug" on his Test career after being axed for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy decider in Sydney.

It was a bizarre lead-up to the fifth Test, with the 37-year-old not fronting up to the pre-game press conference, leading to speculation about his role at the SCG.

The Indian Express reported on Thursday night that Rohit asked to "opt out" of the match - a claim repeated by new captain Jasprit Bumrah at the toss on Friday morning.

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Rohit - who has been in horrible form with the bat and whose captaincy has been almost as bad in the three matches he's played against Australia - was missing from the XI named at the toss and replaced by Shubman Gill in the top-order.

The right-hander was bizarrely replaced by coach Gautam Gambhir for pre-game media commitments and has yet to publicly address his absence from the Indian side.

Gambhir was quizzed on the situation and refused to go into details.

Rohit missed the first Test due to the birth of his child, and India won that match in dominant fashion under the captaincy of Bumrah.

Since his return in Adelaide, Rohit has returned measly scores of 3, 6, 10, 3, and 9, while his captaincy has been almost as bad.

Speaking during the Fox Cricket coverage on the first day of play, Shastri admitted the time may have come for Rohit to step back from red-ball cricket.

"It still is a brave call for a captain to own up and say I'm prepared to take the bench in this game," the former Indian captain said.

"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.

"He's not getting younger … 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."

Earlier in the summer, Rohit's long-time teammate Ravi Ashwin bizarrely retired mid-series, fuelling speculation of a divide in the touring camp.

India has to win the match in Sydney to draw the series 2-2 and retain the trophy.