New Delhi: ‘No one is bigger than the game’ is an age-old cliche but it continues to stand true having faced the test of time. As much as the horrific performances of the senior players, the underlying superstar culture, lack of accountability and sheer arrogance in the top tier of Indian cricket is to be majorly blamed for the team’s crushing 3-1 defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 against Australia.
In less than 4 months, India have been twice humiliated and humbled by two different teams across completely different conditions in Test cricket, exposing not only the frailties in their squad but also their overall planning. A Test series whitewash at home against New Zealand followed by the Australia series defeat has opened a can of worms, leaving the big wigs of Indian cricket with nowhere to hide.
Captain Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli have taken the major share of blame after India’s debacle in Australia, their first in a decade and the first instance of the team missing out on qualifying for the World Test Championship (WTC) final since the tournament’s inception in 2019. Rohit and Kohli have been rightfully on the receiving end considering the duo were the biggest let-down for India in the forgettable series.
The expectations were high from both Kohli and Rohit heading into the Australia tour where the two senior India batters were expected to shoulder the majority of the run-scoring responsibility amid a significant lack of experience in the Indian batting line-up. Despite their struggles against New Zealand at home, the duo were expected to perform better considering their game was better suited for pace-friendly Australian pitches.
But both senior batters looked completely out of sorts as the Australian pacers piled on their miseries, exploiting their specific weaknesses to leave them rattled throughout the series. Rohit, who joined the team from the 2nd Test onwards in Adelaide, ended with only 31 runs, one less than Jasprit Burmah’s wickets tally (32) in three Tests before facing the axe for the must-win 5th Test.
Kohli, who kept getting dismissed similarly throughout the series while going after outside-off deliveries, managed 190 runs, including his unbeaten ton in the series opener in Perth. If his unbeaten 100 in Perth was not to be taken into account, Kohli finished with an abysmal 90 runs in his remaining 8 innings, highlighting his struggles Down Under.
Superstar culture holding India back
Despite enduring horrific campaigns in Australia, both Rohit and Kohli remain untouched at the moment amid growing calls asking for the duo to consider their futures in Test cricket. The arrogance was quite evident in the way Rohit Sharma targeted his critics in a mid-match interview with the official broadcaster while asserting that he is going nowhere and has no plans of quitting Tests anytime soon.
Despite having been out of depth in the entire series, Rohit looked in complete denial mode as refused to come to terms with the fact that his time in Test cricket might be all but over and he should part ways before the ‘why nots’ calls grow louder.
For all his match-saving knocks for India in the past, Kohli’s dip in Test cricket over the last five years has been unfathomable. Once regarded as the leader of the ‘Fab 4’, Kohli has been left far behind by his contemporaries with only 2,028 runs at an average of 30.72, including just three centuries since 2020, arguably the lowest phase in what has still been a remarkable Test career.
But despite these below-par returns from the ‘Big Two’ of Indian cricket, none of them seems to be ready yet to hold a serious conversation regarding their future or put their hands up and say they are ready to go back and grind it out in domestic cricket to win back their place in the Test squad.
The likes of Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh and the legendary Sunil Gavaskar among others have all been quite vocal about how the superstar culture needs to end in the Indian team and the selectors need to look beyond hero-worshiping and past reputation when selecting players. Performance should be the sole criterion to judge a player before an important tour.
“We need to end superstar culture, we need team culture. You need to improve yourself and improve the Indian team,” Irfan said, questioning Kohli’s spot in India’s Test team after the Sydney Test.
“There were matches before this series, too, and they had an opportunity to play domestic cricket, but they didn’t. We need to change that culture. When was the last time Virat Kohli played domestic cricket? It has been more than a decade,” he added.
Harbhajan echoed the sentiments of his 2007 T20 World Cup-winning teammate as he said no player should be treated above the game, irrespective of who they are and what they have done in the past.
“The selection should be based on the performance, whether Virat or Rohit. No player is bigger than the game, even if they think they are superstars in their minds,” said Harbhajan.
Hero worshipping and superstar culture are nothing new in Indian cricket. It has been inscribed in India’s sporting culture over the years and continues to hold precedence in the current day and age as well. But the BCCI will have to take some tough calls and draw the line if India are to complete a successful transition and become a Test giant once again.
Give domestic cricket the respect it deserves
Though their days are numbered in Test cricket, Kohli and Rohit’s only shot at redemption is by giving domestic cricket the respect it deserves. Ahead of the Australia series, the two stalwarts had the chance to get some red-ball practice behind their back in the Duleep Trophy but they chose not to take part in the premier domestic competition citing workload.
Ravindra Jadeja was reportedly the only senior India player willing to play in the Duleep Trophy which saw the likes of Yashavi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Akash Deep, Nitish Reddy and KL Rahul among others in action. Mohammed Siraj pulled out due to an illness while the absence of the seniors was majorly left unexplained.
The decision to not get much-needed practice ahead of the crucial tour came back to haunt the likes of Kohli and Rohit, who found themselves starving for runs throughout the series. The decision to not play a practice match against India A ahead of the start of the Australia series also highlighted the seniors’ unwillingness to get enough real match practice behind their backs.
As has been highlighted by several former cricketers in the last couple of days, BCCI will have to up their measures to ensure domestic cricket is given priority when contracted players are not on national duty and preference is given to the domestic performers when it comes to selection in the Test squad.
Rohit last played a domestic red-ball game for Mumbai in 2015 while Kohli’s last appearance for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy was 13 years back in 2012. Both senior players might soon have to make peace with the fact that like any other Indian player, they will have to prove their form in domestic cricket to keep their places in the Test squad or make way for youngsters to ensure they are not holding India back in the longest format.
India’s crushing 3-1 defeat in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 has not only exposed the frailties in the Test team but has also brought to fore the underlying issues with superstar culture and sheer arrogance in the top tier of Indian cricket that needs to end sooner rather than later. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
