New Delhi: The legendary Sunil Gavaskar believes Rohit Sharma should go back to domestic cricket to find his form if wants to continue playing Test cricket for India. Gavaskar had advised the struggling Indian batter to play for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy whenever he gets a chance. Gavaskar’s comments come after Rohit on Saturday made it clear that he is not thinking about quitting Test cricket anytime soon.
Rohit clarified his stance on his future after being left out of India’s playing XI for the ongoing 5th Test against Australia in Sydney in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. Rohit confirmed he stood down as captain and wanted the team management to take the difficult call of excluding him from the playing XI owing to his woeful performances with the bat.
Rohit endured a disastrous tour with the bat as he failed to fire both in the middle order and as an opener. Rohit returned to the Indian side in the 2nd Test against Australia in Adelaide after skipping the opener in Perth. He managed only 31 runs in the next three Test matches before being left out of the playing XI for the must-win fifth Test in Sydney.
Rohit averaged a dismal 6.20 in the three Test matches with the highest score of 10 in what was a forgetful campaign for the senior batter. In 4 out of five innings that he batted in the three Tests, Rohit failed to score in double digits for India. Gavaskar has advised Rohit to play for Mumbai in domestic cricket as it is the only way he can regain his form in the longest format.
“Well, there are not much of four-day games that are available, but if there are some like the Ranji Trophy, if Mumbai do qualify for the knockout stages, he should be looking to play some matches,” Gavaskar was quoted as saying by India Today.
“I know it’s a little bit unfair on some of the boys who’ve been playing in the initial and qualifying stages to make way for him. But in the larger interest of Indian cricket, I think if there is a spot for him to play, he should be doing that because that’s the one way that he will be giving himself time out in the middle,” he added.
India on verge of losing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25
India are on the verge of losing the Border-Gavaskar Trophy after managing to hand Australia a low-key target of only 162 runs in their second innings on Day 3 of the ongoing 5th Test in Sydney. Australia are cruising towards a dominant victory in Sydney having posted 71/3 at lunch, just 91 runs short of the 162-run target.
Australia will clinch the five-match series 3-1 if they manage to beat India in the Sydney Test having already secured impressive victories in the 2nd and 4th Test in Adelaide and Melbourne, respectively. If India lose the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25, it will be their first Test series loss in Australia since 2018 when theu clinched their maiden Test series victory Down Under.
The legendary Sunil Gavaskar has adviced struggling Rohit Sharma to play for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy to regain his form in Test cricket for India. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
