India’s captain Rohit Sharma‘s place in the Test team is highly uncertain for the next cycle of the World Test Championship beginning June 20 this year. The beleaguered batsman Rohit Sharma opting out of the crucial fifth match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy does not necessarily mean that it is the end of the road for him in Tests. It just means that the “out-of-form” captain has made a way for other players in this match.
In the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy between India and Australia, Gavaskar opined on the future of Rohit Sharma. He felt that India would not qualify for the final of the World Test Championship and the selectors are likely to appoint a new captain for the upcoming cycle. Although Gavaskar backed Rohit Sharma, he mentioned that it was time to look ahead in the longest format.
Rohit Sharma’s interview on Day 2 of the 5th test sparked confusion and anger
As a captain, Rohit Sharma led the side in 24 Tests, won 12, drew three, and lost nine. His reign as a Test captain is rated very good in home conditions. Away from home in eight Tests, he has won two, drawn two and lost four. But it is as a batsman where Rohit Sharma’s troubles began.
The opener has been dismissed in single digits 10 times in the past 15 innings this year and averages 10.93 in the last eight matches. This is the most for a top-seven batter in a season. Virat Kohli has nine single-digit dismissals this season. Under Rohit Sharma, India lost five Tests this season, the most for an Indian captain in a season, a rarity that occurred only under Sachin Tendulkar’s captaincy in 1999-2000.
The 37-year-old’s diminishing reflexes, flaws in his already minimal footwork, finally led him to stand down at Sydney. Rohit Sharma had always been like this, but despite all of it, he was a prolific scorer as well. In 67 Tests, he scored 4,301 runs at an average of 40.57 with 12 centuries. It is his six-hitting skills and an ability to accelerate right from the start, which made him a ‘hitman’, among the Indian cricket fans.
The problem began when runs stopped coming off his bat for the past one year. After a loss in the MCG Test, Rohit accepted that runs were not coming off his bat as the way it should be and it was mentally disturbing. Rohit Sharma’s legacy as a Test captain is that of playing fearless cricket upfront by giving quick starts and forcing results in India’s favour at home.
Having taken over Test captaincy from Virat Kohli in 2021, Rohit Sharma the Mumbaikar discarded the traditional approach to guarded starts in the Tests and chose the ‘attack-first’ game.
Rohit Sharma was prepared to take occasional failures in his stride and said he would back the team going for the kill every time. His insistence on playing the pull shot, a way of countering the short balls, despite getting out several times, is just a reflection of this approach. As a captain and a Test opener, he was successful in rubbing off this approach to the youngsters in the team as well.
Rohit Sharma recently cleared the suspicion on his career, saying he is not retiring from international cricket and decided to sit out of the fifth Test against Australia for the betterment of the team. He also slammed commentators and the journalists for their statements and stories on his future. “I am retiring and a person with a mike and pen is not going to decide about my future,” he told Jatin Sapru. His words were also aimed at Gavaskar.
Sunil Gavaskar is miffed with the senior Indian players as his comments have been taken in a wrong context by them, leading to personal attack on the legendary cricketer. When he spoke about Virat Kohli’s strike rate in the Indian Premier League, the veteran batter slammed him and other former players and accused them of not knowing anything about the shortest format.
Sunil Gavaskar’s took an angry stance against Rohit Sharma and Team India after their 3-1 defeat in BGT 2024-25
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar lashed out at Rohit Sharma and co. after the visitors lost the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy 3-1. During a post-match discussion, he reflected on India’s defeat and tauntingly replied that he didn’t know anything about cricket and that there was no point listening to him.
Australia beat India by six wickets in Sydney on Sunday, January 5 in the fifth and final match of the series. Chasing a target of 162, the hosts raced to victory in 27 overs. India won the first match of the series in Perth by 295 runs but lost three of the next four games, while one match in Brisbane ended in a draw.
During a post-match interaction on Star Sports also featuring Irfan Pathan, Gavaskar was asked for his views on India’s poor performance. The miffed cricket legend replied:
“Arey humko kya maloom cricket ka. Hume cricket aati nahi hai. Hum sirf aise hi television pe baat karte rehte hai. Humari kaun sunega? Irfan (Pathan), hum log aise hi baat karte hai TV ke liye. Actually, humari baat sunne ka koi matlab nahi banta. Abhi bhi jo maine kaha hai, upar se jaane dijiye. Koi problem nahi hai. Idhar se aane dijiye, idhar se bahar nikal dijiye.”
“(What do we know about cricket? We don’t know cricket. We just talk on the television. Who will listen to us? Irfan and I just talk on TV. Actually, there is not point listening to us. Even what I have said just now will go over the head. There is no problem. Let it enter from here and exit from here (pointing towards his ears).”
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah was the Player of the Series for his stupendous performance in BGT 2024-25. He claimed 32 wickets in five Tests. However, the big names like Virat Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma struggled. While Kohli scored 190 runs in nine innings, Rohit managed only 31 runs in five innings. Australia captured the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by registering their first Test series win against India after a decade. India had beaten the Aussies by a 2-1 margin during their previous two visits Down Under.