New Delhi: When the going got tough for India, two of their most prominent batters couldn’t get going. Apart from the humiliation of a whitewash in a series of three or more Tests for the first time in 91 years, India need to tackle the conundrum surrounding skipper Rohit Sharma and premier batter Virat Kohli.
The two veterans have been India’s distinguished batters for a long time but with ageing reflexes and agility their fortunes in Test cricket seem to be fading, fast.
Opener Rohit had taken upon himself to set the tempo of India’s innings with aggressive knocks but that ploy have fetched only 91 runs in six innings at an average of only 15.16.
Taking the game to the opposition in T20 cricket is one thing but replicating it in red-ball cricket is quite another, Rohit has found the hard way, forcing him into introspection.
No trust in defence
“I go in with certain plans and those did not come off this series. We did not play our best cricket in these conditions and are facing the result of that.” “I was not at my best as captain in leading the team as well as with the bat also. Collectively as a unit we failed to perform,” Rohit said after India’s 25-run defeat in the third Test at Mumbai’s Wankhede stadium.
“My defence… I have not defended a lot because I have not been there much. I need to look at it. I try to put my team in best situations, sometimes you fall on the other side.
“I don’t see that I have lost my faith on my defence. I accept I haven’t batted well in this series, but it has been only two series I have not batted well.
“As you grow you try and evolve and I am trying to see what else I can do. There is a chance you can fall on the other side of it and I have, but I will re-look.”
Scores of Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma pic.twitter.com/16FUkw4Wjk
— RVCJ Media (@RVCJ_FB) November 3, 2024
Kohli has also not displayed much faith in his defensive technique as well, leading to inexplicable lapses in judgement and circumspection when dealing with spinners.
The former captain managed 93 runs in the series at an average of 15.50, 70 of those runs coming in the second innings of the first Test in Bengaluru. Of the 91 Rohit managed, 52 was in that innings.
If that innings is kept out, then it looks for grim viewing as not only their scores but the manner of dismissals would make head coach Gautam Gambhir a worried man.
Inclusion in Australia squad
Their woes shouldn’t escape scrutiny after prolonged failures. Kohli’s Test average has gone down to 47.83 from 55.10 in October 2019, making it the first time since November 2016 it has dipped below 58.
If this was an opportunity to shake things up, the Board of Control for Cricket in India didn’t take it, possibly keeping in mind the five-match series in Australia from Nov 22.
If the BCCI has an eye for the future, some tough calls need to be made, somewhere in the near future before its too late as announcing the squad for the Border-Gavaskar series even before completion of the New Zealand series reeks of an attempt to live in denial.
No-show in domestic cricket
Indian cricket thrives on superstar status and the BCCI is loathe to rocking that boat. The bigger the name the more protection and allowance are given, even to the point of going against its own rules and regulations.
That can only explain why Rohit and Kohli were excused from the Duleep Trophy first round matches before the Bangladesh series, when the Board had mandated every contracted player to play, punishing Ishan Kisha and Shreyas Iyer for not toying the line earlier.
It evokes of different rules for different personnel, which goes out of the window once they go out to bat in the middle with their reputation and red-ball career now being at stake.
