The Test captain of India, Rohit Sharma, has been underwhelming with the bat and the responsibilities of leadership from the home three-match series at home against New Zealand, and that now has been extended to the ongoing five-match series in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 down under.
The recent report claimed that there had been notable figures of the side with a senior player preparing to be projected as an interim option. The Nagpur-born has collected only 31 runs in five innings at an average of 6.20 with the best score of ten. The right-handed batter missed the opening game of the series at the Optus Stadium in Perth.
The 161-run opening stand between KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal led the leader of India to be slotted in the middle order of the side. But things didn’t roll out smoothly as he faced so much pressure in both the second pink-ball day-night encounter at the Adelaide Oval and the third Test at the Gabba in Brisbane.
Senior cricketer to replace Rohit Sharma as new Test captain of India- report
That led Rohit to promote himself in the fourth Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) with KL Rahul being put at number three, but nothing worked, as he was undone by the opposition number, Pat Cummins. India, after their shocking defeat in the MCG, where they lost seven wickets in around an hour during the third session of the fifth day as they were looking to survive 92 overs to push for a draw, finds themselves in a do-or-die situation to win the SCG Test to retain the BGT and keep themselves alive for the World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final.
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The Indian Express has highlighted that a senior player of the side has been eyeing the captain’s spot and has displayed his extreme desire to be the interim captain of the side. He is actively being portrayed as the ‘Mr. Fix-it’ but it has also been learned that he isn’t convinced to take the role yet.
Rohit managed 42 runs in the four innings at home against Bangladesh before collecting only 91 runs in six innings against New Zealand with the help of just one half-century during the opening clash at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The question stands if Rohit plays the fifth New Year’s Test at the SCG, which is very likely, then where would he bat? Will he go back to the middle order or stay in the opening position?
India had to drop their future star of the batting department, Shubman Gill, from the previous game. The right-handed batter, who finished 1860 Test runs in 57 innings at an average of 35.76 with the help of five centuries and seven half-centuries at the best score of 128, has collected 866 red-ball runs in 22 innings at an average of 43.30 with three centuries and as many half-centuries.
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Rohit, on the flip side, got 619 runs in 26 innings at an average of 24.76. The former all-rounder of India, Irfan Pathan, has already addressed that had the Mumbai batter not captained the blue brigade, he wouldn’t be in the side.
“A player who has made about 20,000 runs — yet the way Rohit is struggling now, it seems his form is not supporting him at all. What’s happening now is that he is the captain, so he is playing. If he were not the captain, he might not be playing right now. You would have had a set team.” The Baroda all-rounder expressed after the 184-run defeat at the MCG.