NEW DELHI: When Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli had announced their international retirements from the shortest format on 29 June, India were at the top of the world, having just won the T20 World Cup.
How things have changed in six months for the stalwarts of Indian cricket as they stand at the crossroads of their Test cricket career staring down the barrel.
India have lost the Boxing Day Test against Australia by 184 runs and now need to win the last Test of the series, in Sydney, to draw level and retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
But Rohit Sharma, expected to lead India in the last Test, has been so woefully out of form that questions are being asked not only of his captaincy but also of his place in the India XI.
The Indian captain has had a dreadful year in Test cricket. In 14 Tests and 26 innings, Rohit scored 619 runs at an average of 24.76, hitting two centuries and a half-century.
Both of these hundreds – a 131 in Rajkot and a 103 in Dharamsala – came against England.
Rohit’s last Test fifty came in the second innings of the first Test against New Zealand – a series that India lost 0-3, the first time that India lost three straight Tests at home.
With scores of 3, 6, 10, 3 and 9 from five innings on this tour, Rohit has scored 31 runs at an average of 6.2 – the lowest batting average for a touring captain in a Test series in Australia (minimum five innings).
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli haven’t had the best of years in Test cricket.
Not just that, Rohit’s average of 6.2 is the second lowest average for a top order (1-6) batter in a Test series in Australia (minimum 100 balls).
And it’s not just the low scores that are glaring but the manner in which Rohit has been dismissed. So much that he looks like a walking wicket now.
And Rohit’s poor form with the bat has had an adverse impact on his captaincy too. With the defeat at the MCG, Rohit registered his sixth loss as an India captain in a calendar year, second only to Virat Kohli (7).
Partly responsible for India’s defeat is also the poor form of the batting mainstay, Kohli, who from 10 Tests and 19 innings this year, has scored 417 runs at an average of 24.52 with one hundred and one fifty.
That century by Virat was the unbeaten 100 he scored in the first Test in Perth – the match that India won by 295 runs.
If we take out that hundred then the ex-skipper has scores of 5, 7, 11, 3, 36 and 5, that is 67 runs in six innings at an average of 11.16 on this tour.
And all of Virat’s dismissals in this series have come chasing deliveries outside the off-stump and getting caught behind either by the keeper or in the slips.
These repeated dismissals reflect the pressure Kohli is under to score and is resorting to scoring off deliveries that he would normally leave and this can result in more risky shots and edges.
When a batter is out of form and gets caught behind, the dismissal often reflects deeper technical and mental challenges caused by lack of confidence.
And there is no doubt that both Rohit and Virat, in the twilight of their careers, are out of form, hence the lack in confidence.
India’s transition in Test cricket is at a crucial juncture and will effectively require a balanced mix of nurturing young talent, maintaining the core of experienced players, and adapting to evolving demands in modern Test cricket.
