Indian cricket team captain Rohit Sharma© AFP
Former cricketer Madan Lal believes Rohit Sharma’s dwindling form has started to reflect on his captaincy after India fell to a 10-wicket defeat against Australia in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Rohit’s return to the Indian team was shrouded in colours of defeat after the pink ball continued to haunt the visitors at the Adelaide Oval. The 10-wicket defeat inflicted by Australia marked the fourth consecutive loss for Rohit as India’s Test captain. After his fearlessness lifted India to victory against England earlier this year, Rohit’s bat has resorted to silence ever since.
A sub-par series against Bangladesh and a mediocre string of scores against New Zealand have defined Rohit’s struggle to put runs on the board.
His lean form extended to Australia, as he was able to score just nine runs across both innings in Adelaide, even though he came down at number six spot, giving the opening slot for Rahul, who looked in more sublime touch in the first test at Perth.
“Questions will be raised on his form. He has had a lot of failures. He is a top-class player, but you have to score runs,” Madan Lal told ANI while addressing Rohit’s recent form.
Madan Lal believes even though Rohit is a world-class player, he needs to deliver with the bat to keep his critics in check, irrespective of the position he plays in.
“Sometimes, when your form is not good, it reflects on your captaincy. The form is one match away, but he has to score runs. No matter what position he plays, his runs are important because he is a world-class player. You can only stop criticising players by scoring runs,” he added.
During India’s historic 3-0 home series whitewash against New Zealand, Rohit contributed just 91 runs across three Test matches, averaging 15.17. While facing Bangladesh, Rohit amassed a mere 42 runs in two Test matches while averaging just 10.50.
With India in dire need of its high-flying opener to regain his purple patch, Rohit would be hungry to put runs across his name in the third BGT Test.
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