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According to a report in news agency PTI, back-to-back series defeats against New Zealand (home) and Australia (away) and the diminishing returns with the bat have put Kohli and Rohit under scanner.
Gambhir, BCCI officials to meet to review Australia tour. (Picture Credit: AFP)
India’s head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar will meet with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials in Mumbai on Saturday (January 11) to review India’s performance in the recently concluded five-match Test series against Australia. According to a report in the news agency PTI, during the meeting, the future of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be discussed threadbare.
Rohit and Kohli, who are India’s leading run scorers in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC), were horribly out of form in the last two Test series played against New Zealand at home and Australia (away). While Rohit could only manage to score 122 runs in his last six Tests for India, which includes 31 in five innings against Australia, Kohli has amassed a total of 283 runs in the last eight five-day matches.
He did score a century in the second innings of the first Test against Australia, which was played in Perth, but got out in a similar manner eight times during the tough tour Down Under, which has raised question marks over his technique.
According to PTI, the people in power will discuss in detail the future plan—whether to activate the transition switch from next month’s Champions Trophy or wait for the cycle to end with the ICC marquee event.
Though it’s likely that the senior batters will get another chance to redeem themselves at the ODI Champions Trophy, a format in which they have always excelled.
They may also take into consideration the fact that both Kohli and Rohit have played just three ODIs in 2024 after the 2023 World Cup at home, and that could be too light a sample size to make a final call on their 50-over careers.
Both Kohli and Rohit endured different fortunes too in the series against Sri Lanka. While Kohli amassed 24, 14, and 20 in Colombo, Rohit walked away with scores of 58, 64, and 35 against the Lankans.
But overall, Kohli has been a champion performer in 50 overs, his staple format, and a good outing in the Champions Trophy could bring him, and Rohit too, back into a good frame of mind.
However, their Test future is different. The next assignment is an away five-match series against England, and the mandarins will certainly assess the drying runs from Kohli and Rohit in the traditional format.
Their performances will certainly be mooted thoroughly while seeking Gambhir’s views on their desire to continue playing the longest version of the sport.
Similarly, it is possible that the performance of the Gambhir-led coaching staff could be assessed, and they could be asked about their vision to handle the transition period without any more hiccups.
(With inputs from PTI)
