Rohit Sharma has undergone one of the worst phases of his cricketing career, both as a batter and as India captain. He lost five out of six recent Tests as India captain and his form with the bat has nosedived.
India lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 by a margin of 1-3 in Australia, and Rohit appeared in three of the five Tests, missing the first in Perth on paternity leave and "stepping aside" from the last match in Sydney due to poor form.
In between, he made 31 runs in five innings with an average of 6.20, the lowest for a visiting skipper in a Test series Down Under.
Former India batter and batting coach Sanjay Bangar says that while Rohit has stated that he is not going anywhere, he must reclaim his place by scoring runs in domestic cricket.
"When you are 37 years old...and you see that you are not able to perform at the same level like before and you see young players performing better...he must have weighed these factors in his mind when he took that decision (to step aside from the fifth Test in Australia). He has to find out whether he is still hungry for Test cricket; and if he is, then it should show in his actions, like playing domestic cricket, which has been talked about a lot," said Bangar on Star Sports.
Bangar cited Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane as instances of players who were missed by BCCI selectors but continue to compete for their respective state teams.
"Cheteshwar Pujara also got dropped, so did Ajinkya Rahane, and their stature is in no way less or more than Rohit Sharma. They are on the same pedestal. Rahane and Pujara are still breaking a sweat (in domestic cricket). Rohit has to show that kind of hunger,” Bangar said.
Bangar hinted that for established international players, it's a big drop in motivation to play in front of empty stands in domestic cricket. But that shouldn't stop them from doing what earned them their place in the national team.
Rohit Sharma, in middle of Sydney Test, confirmed that retirement is not on his mind and he isn’t going anywhere.
"Even at this stage, he (Rohit) has expressed interest to play for India. He has come forward and said 'I am not going anywhere, I still want to play'. So to follow that up, I am sure he will score big in domestic cricket; then nobody can stop him, but he has to show that form,” Bangar said.
