NEW DELHI: Rohit Sharma confronted wrath from followers and cricket pundits after he promoted himself to opening within the Boxing Day Check towards Australia at MCG, a transfer that backfired miserably because the Indian captain’s woeful run with the bat continued.
Rohit has struggled, making solely 31 runs from 5 innings, with scores of three, 6, 10, 3, and 9, leading to a dismal common of 6.20 – the bottom by a touring captain on Australian soil.
Rohit’s resolution additionally led to KL Rahul being moved to quantity three, whereas Shubman Gill was dropped from the enjoying XI.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra voiced his ire, highlighting that previously, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli made daring selections to attempt Rohit as an opener in ODIs and Checks, respectively, in an effort to revive his profession.
“For the primary time in his profession, he has taken a name for himself. Previously, calls have been taken for him. MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli took requires him to maneuver him from middle-order to opener. Dhoni did in ODIs, Virat did in Checks as a result of they wished Rohit to fireside,” Aakash Chopra mentioned on his YouTube present.
Chopra emphasised that Rohit’s name was completely in his personal pursuits and never within the crew’s since dropping Gill and relegating Rahul to quantity three weren’t advantageous for India.
“For the primary time, captain Rohit took a name and it was completely in his pursuits. It was not within the crew’s pursuits. Let’s be very trustworthy. It may possibly’t be within the crew’s pursuits as a result of Rahul was opening very properly. Shubman Gill did properly in 2023, he’s the second-highest run-scorer. He has performed in powerful conditions additionally. He was trying good in Adelaide too. However, he needed to be dropped from the crew,” he added.
“All it is because Rohit considered himself, not in the perfect pursuits of the crew. For the primary time in his captaincy profession. It did not end up effective. India weren’t in a position to attract,” Chopra additional mentioned.
India suffered a 184-run drubbing by Australia within the fourth Check and now path 1-2 within the five-match sequence with the final Check in Sydney beginning on January 3.
