India coach Gautam Gambhir has refused to guarantee under-fire captain Rohit Sharma will play in the fifth and deciding Test against Australia at the SCG.

Gambhir confirmed to the media on Thursday that quick Akash Deep would miss Friday’s Test with a back injury, in one guaranteed change for Sydney.

But he was asked directly why embattled captain Rohit was not delivering the pre-match press conference and whether it had anything to do with his place in the team for Sydney.

“Everything is fine with Rohit,” he said, adding that the head coach speaking “should be good enough”.

“We are going to have a look at the wicket and probably announce our playing XI tomorrow.”

Asked again if he could guarantee the opener’s spot, Gambhir responded: “The answer remains the same.”

While Australia captain Pat Cummins already confirmed Mitch Marsh would be dropped for Beau Webster, India has previously broken from the tradition of the captain fronting media on the day before Tests this summer, with Shubman Gill facing the media on the day before the Gabba Test.

Gambhir also spoke in place of Rohit at Wednesday night’s prime minister’s event at Kirribilli House.

Rohit is yet to pass 10 in any of his five innings in the series since missing the first Test to stay home for the birth of his child, but he was still picked ahead of Gill for the last match in Melbourne, where he moved into his traditional opening position, forcing in-form KL Rahul to number three.

India’s captain did not feature in the slips cordon in practice on Thursday that at times included Gill, Virat Kohli and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.

There had also been question marks over Rishabh’s spot after his two ugly dismissals at the MCG, including the needless pull shot that started the rot in the final session on day five.

Indian megastar Kohli is also under pressure, his unbeaten 100 in the second innings in Perth seeming an age ago while recording scores of 5, 7, 11, 3, 36 and 5 for the series.

Like Australia, the tourists face a transition period over coming years but Gambhir said selections would be based on performance and not age.

“Indian cricket will always be in safe hands [as long as] you’ve got honest people sitting in that room. Honesty is the most important thing for any transition,” he said.

“It is not about phasing out senior players or getting the youngsters in, ultimately the only thing that can keep you in that dressing room is the performance.”

Gambhir also took aim at suggestions he had let out his fury at India’s players following their last-day loss in Melbourne.

According to a report in the Indian Express, Gambhir told players he had “had enough”, unhappy with them playing their own game rather than for the team.

“It was just reports, that’s not the truth,” Gambhir said.

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“And I don’t think I need to answer reports. There were some honest words, and honesty is very important if you want to go on and achieve great things.

“It’s the team-first ideology that matters. It’s a team sport and you need to play what the team needs you to do.

“People can play their natural game, but in a team sport individuals only contribute. If you need to play in a certain way, I think you have to do it.”

India needs to win the fifth and final Test at the SCG to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, while Australia, leading 2-1, can win the series for the first time since 2015 with a victory or a draw.

“We’ve got to fight it out and that’s probably one area where we’ve lacked in the series,” Gambhir said.

“We know we’ve got the skill set, we’ve got the individuals, we’ve got everything in that dressing room that can win a Test match here.

“Not only here, but probably go on to do some unbelievable things in the future as well.”

AAP/ABC