After the World Test Championship (WTC) final drubbing at the hands of Australia, India will have a month-long break before taking off for the Caribbean tour. Rohit Sharma will get back into the captain’s shoes for the 2 Test matches, starting July 12 in Dominica. But following the conclusion of the series, he is likely to sit down with the selectors and take a call on his future in the longest format of the game.
According to a PTI report, Rohit will continue to lead the Test team in the Caribbean until he himself decides to stay away from the 2-match series. However, the BCCI top brass and the national selection committee will be under pressure to take a tough call if he fails to notch up at least one big knock.
“These are baseless stuff that Rohit will be removed from captaincy. Yes, whether he will last the whole two-year WTC cycle is a big question as he would be nearly 38 when the third edition ends in 2025,” a senior BCCI official was quoted as saying by the PTI.
“As of now, I believe that Shiv Sunder Das and his colleagues will have to take a call after the two Tests and look at his batting form. After West Indies, we have no Tests till December-end when the team travels to South Africa. So, there is enough time for selectors to deliberate and take a decision. By then the fifth selector (new chairman) will also join the panel and a decision can be taken,” he added.
Apart from a commendable 120 against Australia on a challenging Nagpur track, Rohit hasn’t exactly scored the kind of runs that is expected from a player of his calibre.
Since Rohit took over Test captaincy in 2022, India played 10 Tests and he missed three – one in England due to COVID-19 and two in Bangladesh due to split webbing. He scored 390 runs in 7 Tests and had an average of 35.45 in 11 completed innings with a single hundred and no other score above 50.
In that same phase, Virat Kohli played all 10 Tests, scoring 517 runs in 17 innings with 186 against Australia at Ahmedabad being his best.
At the same time, Cheteshwar Pujara played eight Tests and scored 482 runs in 14 innings with two unbeaten knocks at an average of 40.12. But one needs to factor, in scores of 90 and 102 came against a weak Bangladesh attack.
(With PTI Inputs)
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