File image of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.© AFP
The form of India’s batters is the biggest cause for concern heading into the marathon five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series against Australia. Former Australia captain Mark Taylor has been quick to point out that India’s transition period from the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane to the kind of Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal has not been so smooth due to the indifferent form of captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. Taylor said that that has put pressure on the younger players.
“They (India) have had this injection of youth that they had to. They’ve moved on (Cheteshwar) Pujara and they’ve moved on (Ajinkya) Rahane, and are left with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, their two best players. But all of a sudden, they’ve had a rocky period and are not making the runs you would expect them to make,” said Taylor.
“Your best players need to make the bulkier runs, and for the last 12-18 months, that has not happened,” Taylor said.
Jaiswal and Gill have scored 1,119 and 806 runs respectively in the calendar year of 2024, whereas Rohit Sharma has only managed 588.
In the middle order, both Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan have scored more runs than Virat Kohli despite playing less innings.
Rohit averages only 29.40 in 2024, while Kohli’s is an underwhelming 22.72.
Australia vs India, Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25
Australia and India sit first and second in the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 cycle table, but this series will have a huge impact on whether they make the final. These are India’s final five Tests in the cycle, while Australia will play two more in a tour of Sri Lanka.
India have won each of the last four Border-Gavaskar Trophy series by a margin of 2-1, but are under pressure heading into this series, having collapsed to a 0-3 home Test series whitewash at the hands of New Zealand.
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