Speculation around Rohit’s place in the team began after India lost the fourth Test in Melbourne, where he made scores of 3 and 9, as reports emerged that he was planning to retire from the format at the end of the series. On the eve of the fifth Test, India coach Gautam Gambhir did not confirm or deny whether Rohit would play in Sydney – he only said the XI would be decided after taking a look at the pitch. Rohit did not have as active a training session as some of his team-mates.
He was subsequently left out of the Test that India must win to draw the series and avoid handing over the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia for the first time in ten years. After joining the squad midway through the Perth Test following the birth of his son, Rohit gave up his opening position to KL Rahul, who had played a crucial role at the top of the order as India took a 1-0 lead in the series.
But after scoring only 3, 6 and 10 in the middle order in the second and third Tests, Rohit moved back to open at the MCG but suffered two more failures, leaving his average for the series a paltry 6.2 after five innings. He had averaged only 13.30 in ten innings against Bangladesh and New Zealand during the home season before the Australia tour.
Rohit’s year in Test cricket had started positively, with two hundreds and a fifty in India’s 4-1 victory at home against England between January and March. He then captained India to victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup in June, after which he retired from that format, and it was only in September that his form dipped sharply.
More to follow …
