Rumors regarding India’s captain Rohit Sharma and the batting great Virat Kohli retiring from international cricket has become the hot topic of discussion as the two still seem to be struggling in the five-match Test series against Australia.
India, who were the reigning Test champions in their last two visits to Australia, have managed to lose their grip on the Border Gavaskar Trophy, after suffering a major setback in the match at Melbourne on Monday, which saw the visitors go 2-1 down in the series with only the final match round the corner.
While opener Rohit scored one half-century and ten single-figure scores in his past fifteen Test appearances, even a position change in batting order did not help the 37-year-old ease into form.
Under Sharma’s captaincy, India has already lost five Tests this year, equal to the unwanted record India managed under Sachin Tendulkar back in 1999-2000.
The modern game great, Kohli on the other hand has not really done much better.
The 36-year-old batsman only managed to score a ton in the first Test against Australia at Perth, managing only nine runs while batting nine times throughout 17 innings this season of Test cricket.
Both New Zealand and Australia have made full use of his fragility to the left-arm spin and off-stump line, making him at times look like a walking wicket.
“Are we really to the point of discussing retirement for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli?” This was the important question raised by Hindustan Times after the test against Australia in Melbourne in which the Indian team lost in five days.
Such moods were rife among fans in a cricket crazy land where Rohit and Kohli are almost Gods as “happy retirement” became a hashtag in India on Monday.
Both players announced their retirements from international T20s in June after bringing home the second 20-over World Cup for the country.
“Is the Rohit-Kohli retirement announcement round the corner?” The Indian Express raised the relevant issue.
“I am not sure if they got the nerves to look up and see the end of the tunnel but if they do *****/ then they have one more Test in them at Sydney with BGT still open and out there for the taking or …”.
In a rather blunt opinion column, The Times of India stated that it was about time for a leadership change as the senior batters were “on the verge of being called as liabilities”.
The loss to Australia in the Test series also cost India a chance to win the border-gavaskar trophy and also defend it for the third consecutive World Test Championship finals.
Gavaskar said that if Rohit fails again in Sydney, he might be compelled to retire from Test cricket and that India should look for fresh talent in the coming tour of England next year.
“Seventeen should be the new faces for the next cycle of the world test championship, the event which will be held in 2027,” Gavaskar said.
Pathan wished to have a better explanation for Kohli’s weit knowing that he continuously fails to defend near the off stump.
“Virat Kohli played a shot, and this is not the first and will not be the last but he still is not convincing up to the drive outside off stump,” he said.
The fitness freak Kohli attempts to instill into his mindset seems to somehow vanish when he heads into the game according to a confused Pathan who made the humorous remark.
“On why can’t he bring that discipline onto the field?” Pathan quizzed, embarrassing a physical limitation in Kohli.
These questions seem relevant now because after that mark, where he saw a potential challenge to his shot, headed right into the regions of hard seam bowling, which he was so used to that he didn’t know how to combat it.