To put the team before yourself, that’s the job of a captain. That’s exactly what Rohit Sharma must do. It’s time for him to make one of the toughest decisions of his cricketing career and hand the Test captaincy baton to someone else. Another Indian skipper, MS Dhoni, had done so exactly a decade ago in Australia, when he called time on his Test captaincy and career on December 30, 2014.
The Dhoni-Rohit similarity
There are some eerie coincidences as well. Both didn’t feature in the 1st match of the tour and had reached the pinnacle not too long ago. Dhoni had led India to the Champions Trophy 2013 title while Rohit is coming off an all-time high after ending India’s ICC title drought of 11 years and lifting the T20 World Cup 2024 trophy. But Dhoni knew his game was the slide, and another star, Virat Kohli, was on the rise. No one was expecting India to win Down Under, and despite still being in the series (down 0-1), Dhoni chose to retire. Rohit stands here as well.
Unlike Dhoni, he has everything at his disposal. You might say India’s batting has remained the same, but Dhoni didn’t have a pace battery, nor did he have Jasprit Bumrah by his side. Yet Rohit has managed to lose 0-3 to New Zealand at home. No captain in India’s history had been whitewashed before. Without him, Team India managed to beat Australia by 295 runs in Perth; he returns, and they lose by 10 wickets. Some may say you win and lose as a collective. Which is true, but what about the wrong decision he made as the man in charge?
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Rohit Sharma, the Test captain’s shortcomings
You have to question why Nitish Kumar Reddy wasn’t bowled more, especially after taking the wicket of Marnus Labuschagne. Couldn’t Bumrah have been given an extra two overs when Travis Head had just arrived at the crease? Shouldn’t Ravichandran Ashwin have been brought in earlier to bowl? Why wasn’t Akash Deep, a pacer known for his immaculate control, picked over raw Harshit Rana?
The pitchforks aren’t just out because of the Adelaide loss. Questions about his tactics have long been raised. Lack of a slip to Kuldeep Yadav in the ODI World Cup 2023 Final or not bowling bouncers to Head in the World Test Championship 2023 Final? At the first sight of pressure, Rohit seems to want to play it safe rather than continue attacking with bowling or his field settings.
When Bumrah was captain, he always kept mid-on and mid-off up for himself. But Rohit didn’t do that for his best bowler. Australia wasn’t taking Bumrah on; they knew better than that, yet Rohit was okay getting them singles and not building the pressure. Playing Ashwin over Washington Sundar and then treating him like a fifth bowler didn’t make sense. On the second day, he was easily India’s best bowler after Bumrah, yet on the first day, he was given just one over despite Australia playing 33 overs.
He often looks like a reactionary captain instead of a proactive one. Despite Harshit Rana going for runs and losing his pace, he was given the ball just before the new ball was available. This is just about his captaincy; the talks about his batting haven’t even started.
Rohit Sharma’s lack of runs
For this specific innings, you can’t give him much slack. He was batting at 6 after six years and got a few great balls. But, it’s not about one match. He’s failed through the year. In 23 innings in 2024, Rohit scored 597 runs. But the issue is 341 of these runs have come in 4 innings. In the remaining 19, he’s got just 256 runs. It’s been pretty boom or bust. His issues with the incoming ball have made him a candidate for getting trapped in front of the stumps and even seen him castled multiple times.
Rohit Sharma Test record in 2024
| Matches | Runs | High Score | Average | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 597 | 131 | 27.13 | 2 | 2 |
Age factor
His age also comes into play. It’s pretty common for players to taper off at the end of their careers. It happens with almost every player. It seems it’s happening to him as well. Whether it’s his eyes, reflexes, or body, only he knows, but the regression is here, it seems. It’s unlikely he’ll find his form once again, especially while opening, when batting is the most difficult.
BCCI waiting to crack the whip?
Before the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is forced to take a step, he must do the right thing and step away himself. No one’s asking him to retire just yet. He can still contribute, especially with India going to England next summer, but it might be the time to move from Rohit Sharma, the Test captain.
