Former India captain Kris Srikkanth has stated that India captain Rohit Sharma will leave Test cricket if he does not perform well with the bat in the upcoming BGT 2024 Test series in Australia.
He also claimed that he feels Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli would rediscover their form with the bat during India's tour of Australia. However, Srikkanth believes it is too early to consider moving on from Kohli in the traditional style.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s place in the Indian Test side has been questioned since India lost the recent Test series to New Zealand 3-0. In the three Tests, Kohli and Rohit struggled with the bat. Virat Kohli managed just 93 runs while Rohit contributed just 91 runs.
Captain Rohit faced the press and admitted he wasn't at his best with the bat or as captain in the Test series. It was the first time India had lost more than two Test matches without winning a single one.
"100 percent, you have to start thinking ahead (if India doesn't do well in Australia). If Rohit Sharma doesn't do well, I think he himself will retire from Test cricket, for all you know. He will play ODIs only. He has already left T20I cricket. We have to keep in mind that he is also aging. He is no longer getting younger," Srikkanth said in his YouTube show.
Srikkanth said that Rohit Sharma has begun his redemption by acknowledging that he wasn’t good in the New Zealand series.
"At least, Rohit Sharma had the guts. Hats off to Rohit Sharma for accepting the fact that he played badly throughout the series and captained badly. That's a great thing. That's the first move of a player to get back to the rhythm. Accepting your fault is very important. That's a very important quality of a human being. He accepted it openly and that means he is on the road to recovery, that's my opinion," he said.
Only twice in six innings, India went past the 200-run mark as New Zealand kept the pressure on India right from the opening day of the series opener in Bengaluru.
Srikkanth, on the other hand, predicted that Virat Kohli would find his finest form in Australia, citing his previous success there. Kohli averages 54 in Australia, scoring 1,352 runs in 13 games, including six hundreds and four fifties.
"In my opinion, Virat Kohli will start doing in Australia (comeback). His area is Australia. I think that's his strength. I think it's too early to talk like this about Virat Kohli (moving on from him). I won't accept it. Virat Kohli has got a lot of time. One or two bad years of Test cricket," he added.
Srikkanth, however, stated that the Big Four of the Indian Test team - Rohit, Kohli, R Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja -- may have already played their last home Test together.
"But, I saw a headline in one of the newspapers. Is this the last time these four big guys are playing together - Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, R Ashwin, and Ravindra Jadeja. It was a bold headline. I think they have played their last Test together at home. I think that's my opinion. I think maybe, this is the last time," Srikkanth said.
India hasn’t made many changes to their Test squad for the Australia series that begins with the first Test in Perth on November 22.
(India Today inputs)
