NEW DELHI: Rohit Sharma confronted wrath from followers and cricket pundits after he promoted himself to opening within the Boxing Day Check towards Australia at MCG, a transfer that backfired miserably because the Indian captain’s woeful run with the bat continued.
Rohit has struggled, making solely 31 runs from 5 innings, with scores of three, 6, 10, 3, and 9, leading to a dismal common of 6.20 – the bottom by a touring captain on Australian soil.
Rohit’s choice additionally led to KL Rahul being moved to quantity three, whereas Shubman Gill was dropped from the taking part in XI.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra voiced his ire, highlighting that previously, MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli made daring selections to strive Rohit as an opener in ODIs and Assessments, respectively, in an effort to revive his profession.
“For the primary time in his profession, he has taken a name for himself. Prior to now, calls have been taken for him. MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli took requires him to maneuver him from middle-order to opener. Dhoni did in ODIs, Virat did in Assessments as a result of they needed Rohit to fireplace,” Aakash Chopra stated on his YouTube present.
Chopra emphasised that Rohit’s name was completely in his personal pursuits and never within the crew’s since dropping Gill and relegating Rahul to quantity three weren’t advantageous for India.
“For the primary time, captain Rohit took a name and it was completely in his pursuits. It was not within the crew’s pursuits. Let’s be very trustworthy. It could possibly’t be within the crew’s pursuits as a result of Rahul was opening very properly. Shubman Gill did properly in 2023, he’s the second-highest run-scorer. He has performed in powerful conditions additionally. He was trying good in Adelaide too. However, he needed to be dropped from the crew,” he added.
“All it is because Rohit thought of himself, not in the perfect pursuits of the crew. For the primary time in his captaincy profession. It did not prove nice. India weren’t ready to attract,” Chopra additional stated.
India suffered a 184-run drubbing by Australia within the fourth Check and now path 1-2 within the five-match collection with the final Check in Sydney beginning on January 3.
