Former South African cricketer Jonty Rhodes has put his weight behind Indian batting stalwarts, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, after their underwhelming display in the recently held Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Kohli began the marquee series with a second innings hundred (100*) at Perth, but he managed to amass only 90 runs in his other eight innings combined.
The age-old problem of fishing outside the off stump haunted Kohli right through the tour, with Australian quick Scott Boland, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc exposing his weakness.
On the other hand, Rohit was all over the place in the marquee series, managing just 31 runs in five innings at an abysmal average of 6.20 -- the lowest by a touring captain on Australian soil.
After India’s 1-3 loss in the BGT for the first time since 2014-15, questions have been raised over Kohli and Rohit’s place in the side. However, Rhodes has come out in their defence.
Speaking to IANS, Rhodes said blaming just two players for the series loss is unfair. He acknowledged India’s previous successes in Australia but emphasized the difficulty of playing Down Under.
“Everybody's entitled to their opinion. Cricket is that kind of game and I think the cricket players themselves in this day and age, there is no escape from the public, whether it's fans who love them or fans who are criticizing them with social media, journalism these days. Everybody seems to be a cricketing expert and players learn to live with that,” Rhodes said.
“Touring Australia is really tough. And I think maybe the Indian fans have forgotten that because India have been so successful in the past in their last two tours to Australia. But it wasn't easy. You know, some great performances by the team almost resurrected the previous tours. And it didn't quite happen this time around so to lay the blame at the feet of two people is harsh,” he added.
Both Kohli and Sharma will be under scrutiny during the 2025 Champions Trophy next month. The tournament will be played in a hybrid model after India refused to travel to Pakistan.
While Jonty Rhodes refused to comment on the political aspects surrounding the tournament’s arrangements, he expressed his happiness as a fan that India and Pakistan will participate in the showpiece event.
“Fortunately I'm not really involved in the politics of cricket. I'm a big fan of the game and I'm just happy that India are going to be playing Pakistan in this Champions Trophy. Because that sort of game, if it's not taking place, we all as fans lose out a great deal,” Rhodes stated.
