Former Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) chief selector Chetan Sharma on Saturday said India captain Rohit Sharma should be available for the Border in the upcoming Boxing Day match against Australia First start in Gavaskar Trophy Test.
The 2024/25 Test season started with the series against Bangladesh, which was disastrous for Rohit. Not only did he suffer a rare home series defeat – 0-3 against New Zealand, India’s first home series defeat in 12 years – but he scored just 152 runs in seven Tests at an average of 11.69, Only 50 runs were scored in 13 innings. His highest score this season is 52 points.
In 13 Tests this year, Rohit has scored 607 runs at an average of 26.39, hitting two hundreds and two fifties in 24 innings. His highest score is 131 points.
Speaking to ANI, Chetan Sharma reviewed the performance of the Indian bowlers and noted that they “performed brilliantly” in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He stressed that other bowlers need to step up and support Jasprit Bumrah, adding that bowlers must “hunt in pairs” to be successful.
“Our bowlers are doing a very good job. However, they need to support Bumrah effectively. He cannot take five to six wickets in every game. The bowlers in the second line – whether it is Mohammed Sirah Jai, Akash Deep or Nitish Kumar Reddy – Must we need to bowl more but that is easier said than done with two games left and a favorable pitching situation , I hope we can do it.
He also praised Rohit Sharma, calling him a skilful batsman who can take the pressure off the middle order by taking on the Australian bowlers. “I believe Rohit Sharma should open the innings. He is a very good batsman and will help the middle order perform better by putting pressure on the Australian bowlers,” he added.
Australia made some changes to its squad to address the absence and overarching issues of Josh Hazlewood. Sam Konstas replaces Nathan McSweeney for the fourth Test.
Team India: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Iswaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkar, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wicket-keeper) ), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Australian team: Pat Cummins (centre), Sean Abbott, Scott Bolan, Alex Carey, Travis Head (VC), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Constas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jay Richardson, Steve Smith (VC), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.