Rohit Sharma admits he is enjoying Australia’s preoccupation with Jasprit Bumrah, but the India captain wants more from the dominant paceman’s fellow bowlers and the visitors’ misfiring batting unit.
Having made bold selection calls for all three Border-Gavaskar Trophy Tests so far, India are keeping the door ajar for another surprise in Melbourne.
Rohit insisted he was “fine” after a nasty knock to his knee while batting in the MCG nets on Sunday, but refused to guarantee he would remain at the No.6 spot from where he has failed to pass 10 in this series.
He also suggested Boxing Day’s searing forecast could encourage India to pick two spinners, despite veteran Ravichandran Ashwin retiring and flying back to Chennai after the Gabba Test.
Bumrah has been a saving grace for India, who have otherwise struggled to keep pace with Australia since their boil-over series-opening win in Perth.
The 31-year-old quick almost singlehandedly forced Australia into switching Nathan McSweeney for Sam Konstas. The hosts have openly conceded they are searching for ways to stop him given their top-order’s struggles against him.
“It’s nice to see that – a lot of people from the opposition camp talk about him, how (they) need to handle him and stuff like that,” Rohit told reporters on Christmas Eve.
“Usually those are the discussions that happen everywhere (but) the impact that he’s had on the series so far is massive.
“I hope he continues to do that because these (next) two games are very important for us.
“How he operates is very plain and simple. He’s got so much belief in his own skill-set that there’s not much discussion that we need to have with him … it makes it easy for me.
“It’s always nice to have somebody like him in your team. When he’s at that form, the job of the other bowlers becomes a little easier, all they need to do is try to maintain that pressure.”
But Bumrah’s brilliance masks his side’s post-Perth downturn, as much as Rohit attempted to dismiss their troubles in last week’s rain-shortened Brisbane Test by insisting the one-all ledger was an accurate reflection of the series heading into its final two Tests.
The emergence of Akash Deep, whose appearance at the Gabba marked his first Test outside India, was their other silver lining at the Gabba given Mohammed Siraj’s dwindling returns following his impressive turnout in the first Test.
Ravindra Jadeja was integral to saving the game with the bat but failed to take a wicket in 23 overs. Ashwin’s exit means Washington Sundar shapes as the other spin option, with a 40-degree first day set to take the edge of what has become a seam-friendly MCG pitch. Tanush Kotian has been added to their touring party as a back-up spinning allrounder.
Bumrah has taken 21 wickets at 10.90 in this series, while the rest of the Indian bowlers have only five more victims between them at a higher rate (26 wickets at 36.81). It’s almost 10 runs per wicket more than the Australian attack’s combined average of 27.39 from the first three Tests, a considerable margin in a low-scoring campaign.
“Bumrah is certainly making the most of it. Siraj and the other guys who are bowling around him obviously know they need to step up to get the job done as well,” said Rohit.
“They’re trying really hard. They’ve been a little unlucky as well, a lot of plays and misses, certain opportunities have gone down as well – those things can happen.
“For me as a captain, my messaging is very plain and simple – keep running in hard and keep doing what you’ve been doing. They’ve done the job in the past, it’s about doing it again now.
“It’s about instilling that confidence in them every now and then, and making them feel that they are also very, very special to this team.
“I have enough faith in all the bowlers who can get the job done. Everyone can have tough games, tough days, tough series, but it doesn’t mean they’re not good enough to perform at this level.”
On the batting front, Australia’s batting troubles have overshadowed arguably more concerning trends for the visiting team.
A possible return for Rohit to his favoured opening spot is complicated by KL Rahul making a surprisingly good fist of opening in often diabolical batting conditions. The right-hander is their leading run-scorer and their most reliable batter for the series.
His opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal meanwhile has been their standout batter over the past 12 months, despite the left-hander failing to land a punch since his tremendous Perth century. Dismissed by Mitchell Starc in all three matches to date, the 22-year-old practiced extensively against left-armed dog throwers two days out from the fourth Test.
Virat Kohli’s status makes him immovable from No.4 despite returns of 5, 7, 11 and 3 around his own superb second-innings century in the series opener. “Modern-day greats will figure out their own way,” was all Rohit said when asked about the legendary batter.
Rishabh Pant has fared little better amid what is statistically the second-worst series of his career; his average of 19.20 here sits only above the 15.00 from four innings on a 2020 tour of New Zealand.
Rohit is the bottom of the pile, continuing a slump that seen him pass 20 just twice in his last 13 Test innings. Where he will bat in Melbourne is a mystery.
“Let’s not worry about that – who bats where is something we need to figure out within ourselves,” he said.
“It’s not a thing where I should be discussing at every press conference where I should be batting. Whatever it takes for our team to look good, or gives us the best chance to succeed, we’ll do that.”
NRMA Insurance Men’s Test Series v India
First Test: India won by 295 runs
Second Test: Australia won by 10 wickets
Third Test: Match drawn
Fourth Test: December 26-30: MCG, Melbourne, 10.30am AEDT
Fifth Test: January 3-7: SCG, Sydney, 10.30am AEDT
Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (vc), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (vc), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster
India squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed, Yash Dayal
