Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have faced severe criticism for their under-par shows against New Zealand in the recent Test series at home. Coming in as favourites, Rohit’s men surrendered in front of the Tom Latham-led side. In fact, the visitors became the first-ever New Zealand team to win a Test series in India, winning by a margin of 3-0.
Barring one half-century each, neither Rohit nor Kohli could cross the 20-run mark in their remaining five innings against the Kiwis. While Kohli finished the series with 91 runs, Rohit scored two more runs. Certainly, Rohit and Kohli’s form have become a cause for concern ahead of the much-important Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT), which starts later this month.
If statistics are to be concerned, both Kohli and Rohit have averaged just above 30 in Test cricket against the spinners on Indian soil from 2021 to 2024. Former BCCI selector MSK Prasad acknowledged Rohit and Kohli’s struggle against spin but also gave an insight which might bring a smile among the Indian cricket enthusiasts.
“Both these cricketers have come up strong after a poor series. Virat, is like getting a duck out of water, when he goes to Australia. So is Rohit. I know that they are struggling against spin but today we aren’t struggling against pace and bounce unlike the past,” Prasad, who was the BCCI selector from 2016 to 2020, told Revsportz.
”What you experience in Australia is not seam movement, it’s about pace and bounce. We are struggling against quality spin, we are not struggling against pace and bounce. In India also we have some of the pitches which are at par with international standards, like you know in Australia, hard and bouncy tracks,” added Prasad, who played six Tests and 17 ODIs for India.
Meanwhile, KL Rahul was out for just four runs while Dhrul Jurel made a statement with a fighting 80 for India A against Australia A in the second unofficial Test match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) on Thursday.
Both Jurel and Rahul were sent in Australia earlier so that they get a bit more game time ahead of the India's five-match Test series against Australia, with the first game starting on November 22 in Perth.
Although not officially yet, it is being rumoured Rohit might miss the first Test against Australia due to personal reasons. In that case, one can expect Rahul to open the innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
