The former Australian player, Brandon Julian, has felt that there must be some broken relationship going on between the former Indian captain and their poster-boy, Virat Kohli, and the current leader of the Blue Brigade, Rohit Sharma, ahead of the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 in the five-match Test series.
India is coming on the back of their rare whitewash at home against New Zealand with a 0-3 margin, which is now their maiden series defeat at home in the longest format since the 2012/13 season. Virat Kohli has struggled badly with the bat in the three games thanks to just 93 runs in six innings at an average of 15.50 with one solitary half-century on his name.
Even Rohit also found it hard to score runs on those spin-friendly surfaces against the quality attack of the Black Caps, which consisted of Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel. He could nail only 91 runs in six innings at an average of just over 15, celebrating one half-century in the entire series.
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The past heated incidents between Virat Kohli and the current head coach of the side, Gautam Gambhir, are known to all, and the reports claimed that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) discussed with him before bringing the latter into the position. The pair, erasing all the bad memories of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, hugged each other to start a new chapter in 2024 during the same event.
Brandon Julian smells a broken relationship between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli
In an episode of the BCCI, they also agreed not to bring the past moments into the fresh memories of the game. As per the relationship between Kohli and Rohit is concerned, the pair shared a heartwarming moment, following their winning campaign in the recent Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA).
They also spoke highly of each other in the media, and there is nothing to mention in their on-field interactions. However, the former Australia player, Brandon Julian, felt that if there is something that is not helping the Delhi-born to get gelled with the leadership of the Rohit.
“The way that Virat Kohli got out against New Zealand – for him to get out like that in that Test series was unbelievable. Kohli is not at his best. He is not gelling with the captain probably and the coach but having said that, he can quickly turn it around. But if they start pulling in Perth, I reckon it’ll be all over.” Julian expressed on Fox Sports during a recent discussion.
The veteran was the first player to reach Australia for the series, while the reports have claimed that Rohit could miss the opening game of the series, due to start on November 22 at the Optus Stadium in Perth. The decision to stay with the family for the birth of his child could extend the break for the Adelaide red-ball game.
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In his absence, Jasprit Bumrah, the premier pacer of India, is expected to be the captain but Julian wonders if the Ahmedabad-born could balance the captaincy and bowling together under real pressure.
“The Aussies will clean up India in 4 days. There are worrying signs for India, straight at the top. Rohit Sharma is not playing the first Test; he has come out and said that. So Jasprit Bumrah will captain the side. Now that’s a lot of pressure when you’re the opening bowler.” The renowned commentator highlighted.
“He is a wonderful bowler; no doubt about that. But all of a sudden, when you’re opening the bowling and captaining the side, that’s a whole different ball game.” Julian concluded.