 "Rohit Sharma has received both support and criticism from several ex-cricketers following India's loss to Australia in the second Test. Reuters")
India skipper Rohit Sharma is facing the heat following his team’s 10-wicket loss to Australia in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Adelaide. Rohit’s decision to bring himself down to the middle-order backfired big time after he was dismissed for three and six runs in the two innings of the pink ball Test. KL Rahul, who took Rohit’s place as an opener, registered scores of 37 and seven runs.
India, who won the toss and batted first in Adelaide, were all out for 180, and conceded a 157-run lead as Australia posted 337. India managed a total of only 175, meaning that Australia needed just 19 runs to win. Nathan McSweeney and Usman Khawaja made light work of the chase in 3.2 overs.
‘He will come back’: Kapil Dev on Rohit Sharma
While the legendary Kapil Dev has backed Rohit despite the loss, Ravi Shastri has suggested Rohit to return as an opener as that would give him more freedom to attack with the bat. “He doesn’t have to prove himself. He has done this for many, many years, so let’s not doubt somebody. I won’t doubt him. I hope his form comes back, that’s important,” Kapil Dev said on the sidelines of the launch of the Vishwa Samudra Open, a PGTI event that is taking place at the Delhi Golf Club.
“With one or two performances, if you doubt someone’s captaincy , I mean, just six months back when he won the T20 World Cup, you wouldn’t have asked me this question. Let it go, knowing his ability and talent, he will come back. They will come back strongly,” added the World Cup-winning captain.
‘He can be aggressive and expressive’: Ravi Shastri
Ravi Shastri explained why he wanted to see Rohit Sharma at the top of the order. “That’s the reason I want him at the top. That’s where he can be aggressive and expressive. Just thought he was a little too subdued, just seeing his body language. The fact that he didn’t make runs, I don’t think there was enough on the field there. I just wanted to see him more involved, and a little more animated.
“You still have to believe that you can bounce back in this series. You have seen with these two teams, that the counter-punch is almost immediate. It’s happened over the last 10 years. You lose one, you win the next, but you have to have the belief,” Shastri said on Star Sports.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“It would mean Rahul would go back to the middle order. But that’s what he was going to do if Rohit Sharma had started from the first Test itself,” added Shastri.
Aakash Chopra lamented Rohit’s “defensive captaincy” during the Day-Night Test. On Day 2 of the Test, Rohit handed Jasprit Bumrah just four overs in the first session and Aakash questioned Rohit’s decision to take the pacer out of the attack.
“Jasprit Bumrah had bowled a four-over spell and had already picked up a wicket in that. So why did he bowl only four overs, and didn’t bowl after that at all? He didn’t bowl in the entire session. So you are 100 percent right when you say that you missed a trick in captaincy. Rohit’s captaincy - let’s call a spade a spade. We saw defensive captaincy. He allowed the match to drift,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
‘Rohit’s body shows complete lack of confidence’: Manjrekar
Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar was not happy with Rohit’s batting and opined that the veteran batter lacks confidence. “The way he looked when he was batting out there that his body lacks confidence. Somebody who is struggling for runs coming a few days before a Test match and having a quarter of a warm-up game is not ideal preparation.
“Rohit Sharma is clearly struggling with whether defence which is the most important thing you need in Test cricket is letting him down. He doesn’t have confidence in his defence, plus the preparations are thoroughly inadequate for a man who is in this current shape,” Manjrekar said on ESPNCricinfo.
Renowned cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle felt that Rohit was “underdone” in the Adelaide Test . “I have never seen Rohit struggle so much because he is such an easy batter on the eye. He looks underdone,” Bhogle said on Cricbuzz.
Australia’s win in Adelaide means the five-match series is now level at 1-1. India had won the first Test in Perth by 295 runs. The third Test will begin in Brisbane from 14 December.