India, Jan. 2 -- Sydney On the eve of one of Team India's most important match in years, out-of-form skipper Rohit Sharma is likely to opt out of the fifth Test in favour of Shubman Gill - a move that may spell the end of his career in the game's longest and purest format.

The next five days at the Sydney Cricket Ground will reveal much about the merits of this decision, and offer pointers about a generational shift in Indian cricket. A win for India - it seems a bridge too far going into the match, but stranger things have happened in cricket - will help them level the series 2-2 and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, keeping alive an outside chance of qualifying for the World Test Championship final.

A loss will possibly throw Indian ...