Mumbai: After India were at the receiving end of a rare 3-0 series loss against New Zealand at home, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials – president Roger Binny and secretary Jay Shah – had a review meeting with captain Rohit Sharma, head coach Gautam Gambhir and Chief selector Ajit Agarkar at the Mumbai headquarters on Thursday.
The focus was not just the humbling defeat; one in which India’s 12-year unbeaten run at home came to an end but also the blow it has given to India’s World Test Championship final hopes – they must beat Australia 4-0 to be guaranteed of the final. It’s early days yet for the new team management, and, for now, the Gambhir-Rohit working relationship is being closely watched by the BCCI.
One of the matters known to have come up for discussion is ‘the choice of pitches’ employed by the home side and the ‘sense of misplaced urgency’ to rake in WTC points.
One understands, curators in each of the three venues – Bengaluru, Pune and Mumbai worked under the directions of BCCI senior curators and tried to offer dry turning surfaces as required by the team management. The plan did not materialise in Bengaluru with constant rain keeping the pitch under covers. After a washed out first-day, Rohit chose to bat first, and India were skittled out by New Zealand pacers for 46 to never recover.
In Pune, the pitch was kept dry, tailored to assist the home spinners. There, it was Kiwi left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner who ran through the Indian batting line up. Refusing to course correct, another dry surface was prepared in Mumbai, where Ajaz Patel out-bowled Indian spinners. India could not chase down 147 in the final innings to suffer their first-ever clean sweep at home in a series of more than two Tests.
“There was no need to go for turners when our own batting unit was struggling for form. This needs to change,” a BCCI official told HT on condition of anonymity.
India’s repeated batting collapses and falling standards in handling spin have also been marked as a concern area. But that is not the immediate priority with a five-Test tour of Australia beginning in a fortnight and the next home series slated for October 2025.
It remains to be ascertained if direct questions were asked of Rohit, 37, about his future and how the transition process should be put in place. But the common understanding after discussions is that Rohit’s performance with the bat and as skipper in Australia will have a huge bearing on how things eventually pan out.
Not just Rohit, three other seniors Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja too are in their twilight years, necessitating a need for a smooth transition process.
Rohit will be leaving with the first batch to Australia on November 10 for early acclimatisation. He is likely to miss the first Test starting November 22 for personal reasons. The second batch leaves a day later.
