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Justin Langer feels Rohit Sharma has been atypically ‘tired’ and ’emotional’ in the BGT, which makes Sydney a big challenge for him and India.
Rohit Sharma has been struggling for runs in Australia.
Former Australia coach Justin Langer feels that Indian captain Rohit Sharma looked ‘very tired’ at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in the recent fourth Test between India and Australia. Langer added that he found Rohit ‘quite emotional’ on the field too, which according to him, was quite unusual for the Mumbaikar.
Rohit has had to face severe criticism and backlash following his side’s defeat to Australia in the Boxing Day Test held at the MCG. India are currently down by 2-1 in the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
The fifth Test of the series will start on January 3 in Sydney. While speculations have been rife about Rohit’s retirement from Tests, clamors of his resignation from the skipper’s position have been doing the rounds on social media as well.
“Rohit Sharma looks very tired to me. I saw him quite emotional on the field yesterday. That’s unusual for us to see Rohit like that. He’s usually so calm, so chilled out. But he was showing his emotions; he looks tired,” Langer said after Australia won the Boxing Day Test, as per Hindustan Times.
“It’s understandable because as a cricketer, when you’re not making runs, that’s all that stays on your mind. And as captain, if you’re not making runs and your team is not winning, the stress starts to come into the game. Whether he can get up for Sydney, that’s up to him. It’s a big challenge. India needs him to get up to speed in Sydney,” Langer added.
Apart from his leadership, Rohit Sharma’s recent form with the bat has also not been quite impressive. In his last five innings, Rohit could manage to score 31 runs. He is yet to cross the 10-run mark in the three Tests he has played in the series. Rohit also did not have an impressive outing against Bangladesh, scoring 42 runs in two Tests.
The defeat to Australia at the MCG meant that India would now have to win in Sydney and hope Australia failed to win both Tests in Sri Lanka to qualify for the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Australia, on the other hand, need to win one of the three Tests to qualify for the WTC final
