The veterans have come under fire for an underwhelming Border-Gavaskar Trophy campaign and overall, a very disappointing 2024/25 season of Test cricket
Our Bureau
Sydney
Once the backbone of India’s batting lineup, Virat Kohli endured a tough series in Australia, managing just 190 runs at an average of less than 24. This included an unbeaten century in the first Test in Perth, but he struggled to maintain consistency throughout the series. Indian captain Rohit Sharma, who missed the Perth Test and sat out the last game at Sydney, also had a forgettable series with many calling for the two veterans to be dropped from the Test side.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli came under fire for an underwhelming Border-Gavaskar Trophy campaign and overall, a very disappointing 2024/25 season of Test cricket. Sharma (31 runs in three matches and five innings at an average of 6.20) and Virat Kohli (190 runs in five matches and nine innings at an average of 23.75 with a century) lacked big time with the bat. Virat fell for the outside-off-stump trap throughout the series, most notably by pacer Scott Boland who dismissed him four times.
Now, Ravi Shastri has shared his views on the current stages of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s Test careers following their dip in form during India’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy defeat to Australia. Despite these challenges, Shastri believes the 36-year-old still has plenty to offer, though he acknowledged Kohli’s difficulties against spin on home soil and his technical issues outside off-stump in Australian conditions.
Speaking on The ICC Review, Shastri compared Kohli’s current struggles to those faced by former Australian captain Ricky Ponting during the later years of his career. Ponting averaged 39.48 over his final five years as a Test batter, significantly lower than his overall career average of 51.85.
For Ravi Shastri, West Indies legend Brian Lara, who amassed 11,953 runs at an impressive average of 52.88, remains an example of a player who stayed true to his natural style until the very end of his career. “The only guy I thought who just played the game where he saw the ball and smacked it was Brian [Lara],” he said, as quoted by ICC.
ICC Hall of Famer Ricky Ponting has also shared his thoughts on where Virat Kohli is at in his Test career following a further downturn in his form in India’s Border-Gavaskar Trophy loss to Australia. Looking for potential solutions for the 36-year-old, cricketing great Ricky Ponting agreed he had much to give, despite struggles against spin at home and technical issues outside off-stump in Australia.
On Rohit Sharma’s future, former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar said that the Indian skipper will have to work hard on his defence and counter-attacking game ahead of the England Test tour later this year, noting that he is not making enough “sacrifices” for “one final burst” in his career like legends Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid did.
Manjrekar said, “He has opted out on form (during the Sydney Test) and it is not like things are going to get easier. The next challenge is going to be England. It will be that same line outside the off-stump. That is a headache for the chairman of selectors. He has got to keep it simple and forget the effect those decisions will have. He will have to improve his defence and his counterattack game is not working.”
“So that is a serious cause for concern. KL Rahul-Jaiswal is a better opening stand looking at Rohit Sharma’s form,” he added. “I don’t think Rohit Sharma is making enough sacrifices to have one final burst – the kind of sacrifices Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar made at the end of their careers with regard to fitness and the preparation,” the 59-year-old concluded. Former Indian cricketer and coach Sanjay Bangar also feels that Rohit Sharma needs to determine if he still has the hunger to play Test cricket and it should be visible in his form and actions. Bangar said for Rohit, “When you are 37 years old, every failure hurts because a cricketer is a very proud person. When he sees the kind of performances he has had in the past but cannot replicate them, and when young players are performing well, these factors weigh heavily on his mind. This might have influenced his decision. He needs to determine whether he still has the hunger to play Test cricket. If he does, that hunger must reflect in his actions.”
