Former India chief selector MSK Prasad has questioned Rohit Sharma’s ‘ordinary’ run with the bat and his ‘pathetic’ captaincy in the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy against Australia. Prasad also drew a link between Rohit’s individual batting performance and the team’s performance. Rohit managed scores of 6, 3, and 10 in his first three innings batting in the middle order.
Rohit’s return to the top of the order in Melbourne brought no improvement, as he was dismissed for just 3. His captaincy has also come under scrutiny, with questions raised about his field placements and bowling rotations. Rohit Sharma missed the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test, which India won by 295 runs in Perth, led by Jasprit Bumrah. Since Rohit returned to the side in Adelaide, things have not gone well for India.
As Australia continued to pile on the runs, with Steve Smith reaching his 11th Test century against India, former BCCI chairman of selectors MSK Prasad voiced his frustration during commentary. Prasad strongly criticised Rohit’s captaincy, batting, and overall demeanour, describing him as seemingly clueless.
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“You really raised the topic of Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. Heading into this series, you know, we had our 3-match series against New Zealand. It was pathetic. It never happened in the history of Indian cricket that we lost back-to-back 3 games. Rohit got absolutely no runs in that series, so he comes into this series. He didn’t play the first game. Bumrah led the side very well, so Rohit comes after the backdrop of continuous failures,” MSK Prasad said while speaking on commentary on Day 2 of Boxing Day Test.
The former India wicketkeeper also highlighted Rohit’s recent poor track record as a captain. After leading India to victory in the T20 World Cup, the team suffered a historic bilateral ODI series defeat to Sri Lanka after 28 years. This was followed by a painful 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand, marking India’s first home series loss in 12 years. According to Prasad, Rohit’s lack of innovative ideas is affecting the team, as reflected in the players’ body language. Moreover, his inconsistent form with the bat has only compounded the issue.
“I personally feel that has got a direct impact, you know, if you see that, you know, captain, you know, if he comes with some sort of form that has direct impact on the side and he comes after a series of failures and that has clearly shown the way he led the side also he’s not proactive on many occasions. If you see in this Test match itself, you know, he had 11 over bo bowled by Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah on a trot, especially when Sam Konstas was going tongs and tongs and that’s has been the case with his captaincy. He’s been struggling a bit both with his bat and also in captaincy,” the ex-India selector added.
