Rohit Sharma reveals toughest Australia bowler he faced Down Under and why he dropped himself from Sydney Test

Mumbai: India skipper Rohit Sharma has labelled facing Scott Boland in the Border-Gavaskar series as his 'toughest challenge in Australia'.

Boland played a key role in Australia's comeback win Down Under, taking 21 wickets in just 3 matches as they overturned a 1-0 deficit to win the series 3-1.

“Boland was the toughest to face in those conditions. When we checked his pitch map, 90% of his deliveries were just on the spot - no width, no full balls, maybe a few, but not many,” Rohit told Michael Clarke on the Beyond23 Cricket Podcast.

The right-hand batter had a a forgetful series against Pat Cummins-led Australia, managing just 31 runs in five innings. His struggles with the bat culminated in the skipper dropping himself for the final test in Sydney and handing the reins to Jasprit Bumrah, who had led India to a thumping 295-run win in the series opener in Perth.

“I had to be honest with myself - I wasn’t hitting the ball well, and I didn’t want to play just for the sake of it. A few others were struggling too, and we really wanted Gill to play. He’s such a good player and had missed the previous Test, so we felt he deserved a chance.” Rohit said.

"I mean, I was like, okay, if I'm not hitting the ball well, there's no point forcing it. I spoke to the coach and the selector—who was on the tour as well - and they kind of agreed, kind of didn’t," he said.

"You try to put the team first, look at what the team needs, and make the decision accordingly. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, that’s just how it goes. Every decision you make, there’s no guarantee of success or that it’s the right one. You just do what feels best for the team," Rohit said.

Having recently captained India to ICC Champions Trophy 2025 success, Rohit also opened up on the upcoming assignment with the national team - a five-match Test series against England away from home, where the visitors will be aiming to reign over the Three Lions once again. The series will also mark the beginning of the new World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle.

"Absolutely, last time we played these guys, it was 2-2 in the series," he said.

"Yeah, we need some of these guys to be 100% fit. We’ll have a great series, and I know the kind of cricket these guys are playing these days. It’ll definitely be a good challenge for us," Rohit added.