Rohit Sharma: India Test captain 'not retiring' despite sitting out Sydney Test versus Australia

India Test captain Rohit Sharma says he is not retiring despite sitting out their final Test against Australia in Sydney due to his poor form.

Rohit is missing from the crucial clash, with India trailing 2-1 and needing victory to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, after scoring only 31 runs in his five innings through the first four Tests.

It continues a prolonged run of poor form for the 37-year-old, who has scored only one 50 in his last 15 Test innings, averaging 10.93, a run which includes 10 single-digit scores.

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Stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah insisted Rohit had opted to "rest" himself for the final Test against Australia, with the skipper since stressing he has no plans to retire from the format - having already called time on his international T20 career after India's T20 World Cup win in the Caribbean in June.

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"This decision is not a retirement decision, nor am I going to take myself out of the game," Rohit told Star Sports on day two of the Sydney Test.

"I sat out of this match because I'm not scoring runs. There is no guarantee that runs will not come two or five months down the line. I have seen a lot in cricket. Every minute, every second, every day, life changes.

"I have belief that things will change but at the same time I have to be realistic as well. So life won't change by what someone with a mic, pen or laptop writes or says. I've played the game for years.

"They can't decide when we should retire, when we should sit out, when we should captain. I am a sensible man, a mature man, a father of two kids. So I think I know what I need in life."

Rohit added that he "stood down" for the Test match after a discussion with the selectors and head coach Gautam Gambhir, who had declined to confirm if the skipper would play on the eve of the game.

"The chat that I had with the coach and the selector was very simple - my bat is not scoring runs, I am not in form, this is an important match and we need players who are in form," Rohit said.

"The boys are not in great form. So I had this simple thought in my mind - we can't carry out-of-form players.

"That's why I thought I should inform the coach and the selector about what's on my mind. They backed my decision. They said, 'You've been playing for many years, you're the best judge of what you are doing'."

India's next Test series is against England this summer, when Rohit will be 38.