Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra stated that Rohit Sharma, India captain allowed the Adelaide Test in BGT 2024 to drift away. He also criticized the way Rohit used his ace bowler Jasprit Bumrah in the first innings against Australia.
India lost the Adelaide Test by 10 wickets after they were shot out for 180 and 175 in the two innings, while Australia posted 337 in their first innings thanks to Travis Head’s 140. The hosts then chased the 19-run target without much difficulty to level the five-Test series 1-1.
This was the 4th consecutive Test that India lost under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy, putting him on an unfortunate list alongside Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni. Tiger Pataudi holds the record for most consecutive Tests lost as India captain-6, while Sachin Tendulkar lost 5 Tests in a row as India captain.
Datta Gaekwad, MS Dhoni twice, Virat Kohli once, and now Rohit Sharma has lost 4 Tests in a row as India captain.
Aakash Chopra attacked Rohit Sharma's defensive captaincy in Australia, claiming that it allowed the game to get away from the Indian team. Chopra stated that Rohit's captaincy has been consistently awful over the past four Test matches.
Chopra especially referred to India's Day 2 performance in the Test match. Rohit had handed Jasprit Bumrah only four overs in the morning session and removed him from the attack. This helped Australia to score a whopping 337 runs in the first innings.
"Jasprit Bumrah had bowled a four-over spell and had already picked up a wicket in that. So why did he bowl only four overs, and didn't bowl after that at all? He didn't bowl in the entire session. So you are 100 percent right when you say that you missed a trick in captaincy. Rohit's captaincy - let's call a spade a spade. We saw defensive captaincy. He allowed the match to drift," Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
"He wasn't the captain in the Perth match. So that win doesn't count for him. If we leave the last century, it's Dhoni, Kohli and Rohit, and the biggest concerning thing, which might not be with anyone else, is three consecutive losses at home. The captaincy has been a little lackluster," Chopra added.
India will next meet Australia in Brisbane, at the iconic Gabba for their 3rd Test match of the series.
