Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], January 7 (ANI): Former Indian cricketer and coach Sanjay Bangar said that skipper Rohit Sharma needs to determine if he still has the hunger to play Test cricket and it should be visible in his form and actions.
Skipper Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli came under fire for an underwhelming Border-Gavaskar Trophy campaign and overall a very disappointing 2024/25 season of Test cricket. Sharma (31 runs in three matches and five innings at an average of 6.20) and Virat Kohli (190 runs in five matches and nine innings at an average of 23.75 with a century) lacked big time with the bat. Virat fell for the outside-off-stump trap throughout the series, most notably by pacer Scott Boland who dismissed him four times.
Speaking on Star Sports, Sanjay said for Rohit, “When you are 37 years old, every failure hurts because a cricketer is a very proud person. When he sees the kind of performances he has had in the past but cannot replicate them, and when young players are performing well, these factors weigh heavily on his mind. This might have influenced his decision. He needs to determine whether he still has the hunger to play Test cricket. If he does, that hunger must reflect in his actions.”
He also cited the example of middle-order veterans Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane as players who have shown hunger by featuring in domestic cricket competitions such as the Ranji Trophy, Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and even county cricket in England.
“There’s been a lot of talk about playing domestic cricket. Players like Pujara and Rahane, who are on par with Rohit Sharma in stature, have been dropped in the past but have shown their hunger by playing in domestic cricket. Even today, they are sweating it out on domestic grounds, which is a big drop from the intensity of international cricket. Rohit has expressed his desire to continue playing for India and has said,” I am not going anywhere; I still want to play.’ If he follows through and performs in domestic cricket, no one can stop him. But that form and hunger must be evident,” said Bangar.
Also, former Indian cricketer Deep Dasgupta raised questions if Rohit and Virat still hungry and pointed out the need to play domestic cricket to assess it.
“That hunger is crucial. At least one or two domestic games are important to assess this hunger. Class is not in question. Speaking of Rohit–excluding Virat–the way he batted, apart from that one poor shot across the line, he looked slightly better in his last innings, even though he did not score much. The hunger and willingness to sacrifice are key at this stage, after achieving so much individually and as a captain. The next Test series is not until June. Until then, there’s no domestic or red-ball cricket. Whatever red-ball cricket is available now–in the next two weeks–is critical,” he concluded.
The ongoing 2024-25 season of Tests has been miserable for ‘Ro-Ko’ (Rohit and Kohli). While Rohit scored just 164 runs in eight matches and 15 innings at an average of 10.93 with best score of 52, Virat scored a shambolic 382 runs in 10 matches and 19 innings at an average of 22.87, with just a century and fifty each. (ANI)
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