Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are going through one of the worst times of their cricket career currently. Both the players are in torrid form in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia which has become a huge cause of concern for India. Both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have been scrutinized and their place in the team is also being questioned. Former Australia cricketer Greg Chappell is the latest to jump into the topic and has taken a dig at India’s selection panel led by Ajit Agarkar.
Greg Chappell called for tough selection policies and wants them to decide a player’s future. He stood for the need for robust selection policies and claimed that someone has to make a final decision on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s future.
Poor form of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in recent times
While India have constantly backed Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, they will feel that the time is running out quickly for them. Both the players haven’t enjoyed the greatest of times recently, especially in Test cricket.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had a poor home Test season which involved matches against Bangladesh and New Zealand. Virat Kohli scored 192 runs in five Tests at an average of 21.33 while Rohit scored just 133 runs in five Tests at an average of 13.10.
Virat Kohli recently slammed a brilliant hundred in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth. However, he failed again in both the innings of Adelaide. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma has played just one match in the ongoing series but looked awfully out of form.
Former India coach and Australian great Greg Chappell shares his opinion on Virat Kohli & Rohit Sharma’s lean runs during BGT 2024-25
Former Team India head coach Greg Chappell reckons selectors need to decide on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s future amid their inconsistencies. Chappell stressed that players will hardly step aside themselves despite knowing they are past their peak.
Although Rohit and Kohli have been Team India’s biggest match-winners over the last decade across formats, they have been inconsistent over the past 18 months. Their poor form was one of the significant reasons behind India’s recent 3-0 series loss to New Zealand at home, and the same was partly responsible for their 10-wicket loss to Australia in Adelaide.
Speaking to reporters in Adelaide, the former Aussie batter reckons selectors must be strong enough and ruthless in their policies to know when a player’s time is up. He opined that players will hardly walk away themselves, given it’s a high-paying job, and said via The Hindustan Times:
“You know yourself whether you’re at your peak or not. But they obviously love playing the game. They want to play it as long as they can, and they have every reason, every right to want to go as long as they can. That’s why you need good, robust selection policies and selection panels to make those tough decisions.
It’s not up to the players necessarily to make those decisions. They might want to make that decision. But it’s a well-paid job. Who’s going to walk away from it? Someone else has to make that decision.”
Following his drought-breaking century in Perth, Kohli opened up on his poor form, stating that he doesn’t want to stay for the sake of it and wants to keep winning matches for India.
Greg Chappell speaks about Ajit Agarkar’s role
Chappell further spoke about the role of the selectors which is to speak with the big players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma about their future. According to him, the relationships between the selectors and the players is important in this regard.
“It’s very tough. You’ve got to pick the right people to be selectors, the ones that are prepared to have those tough conversations. They can be. Depends on the relationships between the various people in the room,” Chappell explained.
“But we all go through it, everyone that plays at that level. You’ll have your ups and downs as a player. With good players, you prefer to give them a game too many than a game too few. So it’s always tough to get that balance right,” the former Australian cricketer noted.
Currently, Ajit Agarkar is the head of the India’s selection panel. Agarkar has been constantly involved in serious discussions regarding the selection with the head coach Gautam Gambhir and the captain Rohit Sharma.
The pair will be looking to revive their form in the third Test against Australia in Brisbane with the series levelled 1-1 .