NEW DELHI: Rohit Sharma is undoubtedly going through a tough twilight period of his cricket career both as a captain as well as a batter. He will look to resurrect it by possibly returning to his customary position as an opener in the ongoing Melbourne Test in hope of runs that help him regain confidence and poise as a leader.
With India’s No. 3 Shubman Gill dropped from the eleven for an extra spin-bowling all-rounder in the form of Washington Sundar, KL Rahul will in all probability play the role of one-down batter, allowing Rohit to open again in Melbourne, and in the last Test at Sydney. Those four possible innings, believes former England spinner Monty Panesar, will be make-or-break knocks for the Indian captain’s Test career.
“I think that (to open batting again) is the only option for Rohit,” said Panesar, talking to Timesofindia.com from London. “To be honest, he’s got four innings to save his Test career. If he doesn’t perform that well, I think he will probably retire as well.”
If that happens, it will be the second high-profile retirement of the series, with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin hanging his boots after the third Test in Brisbane, quitting international cricket with immediate effect.
THE ONUS IS ON ROHIT
If India fail to qualify for the World Test Championship final, their next Test assignment will be the five-Test tour of England in June-July 2025. For Rohit to play that, if he wants to, Panesar believes he will have to fire in Melbourne and Sydney.
“…With the five Test matches in England, I think Rohit should probably take the ownership and say ‘right, you know, (in) overseas Test matches I have got to perform like I do…be aggressive, take it on’,” said Panesar.
Getty Images
(Getty Images)
“If he does that, I think he will probably carry on as captain. But if he fails, I think he will be the first one to stand up and say, ‘guys, I think I am done, and you have got to move on with the new team’. Especially with five Test matches in England, you have got to build a new side.”
The five-Test Border Gavaskar Trophy stands at 1-1 after three Tests, which means a win in Melbourne will ensure that India won’t lose the series and thus remain the title-holders. But Australia have done well to reach 311 for 6 at stumps on day one.
If India can take the last four wickets quickly to wrap up the Australian first innings for under 350 and then the visitors’ top order bats well, it will be game on.
“It’s a big, big innings for him (Rohit) in Melbourne…I think especially that first innings is a big one for him. He’s got to show good intent and start well because Australia are going to come out not holding back now,” said the 42-year-old former left-arm spinner, who played 50 Tests for England.
KOHLI-KONSTAS INCIDENT WILL FIRE UP THE AUSSIES
After a dramatic first day, where Virat Kohli shoulder-barging 19-year-old debutant opener Sam Konstas grabbed the headlines, Panesar believes Indian batters will have to deal with a hostile Australian team now.
Kohli has been fined by the match referee for “inappropriate physical contact” and also handed one demerit point for the Level 1 offence in the ICC Code of Conduct.
“They (Australian bowlers) are going to come out at Virat, going to make him very uncomfortable, probably the top six as well, (saying) ‘how do you just shoulder-barge a 19-year-old like that?’… I think it’s going to be hostile when they come out to bat,” said Panesar, who is of Indian origin, with his family’s roots in Punjab.
Image credit: X
(Image credit: X)
He added that it will make Rohit’s challenge a stiff one against the charged-up Aussie pacers Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Scott Boland.
“You have got to be ready for it, and ready for counter-punching and playing aggressive cricket, which I am sure Rohit Sharma can do. But if it was in India, he would have been more confident. He is just not sure if he has the same impact in away Test matches,” Panesar reckoned.
ROHIT’S POOR RUN
Rohit, who missed the first Test in Perth while on paternity leave after the birth of his child, has been going through a rough phase in red-ball cricket. His bat has been silent for three consecutive series now, starting with two Tests against Bangladesh and three against New Zealand at home.
He aggregated 42 runs in four innings against Bangladesh and 91 in six innings against the Kiwis. It had an impact on his captaincy as well, with India suffering an embarrassing 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand. Batting at No. 6 in three innings of this BGT so far, Rohit’s knocks read 3, 6 and 10.
Getting runs under his belt, thus, is imperative for the Indian skipper, according to Panesar.
“If he (Rohit) comes round the corner and does well, scores a hundred, I think he answers all his critics; and I am sure he will carry on. But if it doesn’t go too well for him…if he knows he is past his best, he will just say ‘guys, last Test match in Sydney I am retiring, and that will be it.”
INDIA, ROHIT RATTLED
Rohit, too, was part of a confrontational incident on the first day of play in Melbourne where he was seen having a word with Marnus Labuschagne, after he saw the Australian batter repeatedly running down the middle of the track.
Panesar believes such incidents were largely because India got rattled by the aggressive approach debutant Konstas took in scoring 60 off 65, especially when he played audacious ramp shots against the best bowler of the series, Bumrah.
“I think India have been rattled, let’s be honest. They thought Konstas probably would have got out and it would have been a much better day for them, and (they) would have bowled Australia out for 300,” said Panesar.
“If they were on top, they would have probably not bothered (about things like Labuschagne running on the pitch). I think it’s just more the fact…that a young 19-year-old, who has played 11 Sheffield Shield games, is reverse-sweeping (ramp shot) Bumrah over third-man for six. That is showing complete disrespect to Bumrah and this Indian team.”
Panesar believes that it was the audacity of a teenager more than anything else that put India off, which also rattled batting legend Kohli to the point that he shoulder-barged a teenage debutant 17 years younger to him.
“Virat is left thinking ‘he doesn’t feel intimidated by me.’ This 19-year-old doesn’t feel intimidated by this Indian team. That is what’s hurting the ego of this Indian team right now,” he added.
“The real hurt is that a 19-year-old whacks Bumrah over third-man for six. That was pinching them.”
