Former Indian chief selector MSK Prasad slammed Rohit Sharma for his ordinary batting and poor captaincy in the ongoing 2024/25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. On Day 2 of the fourth and penultimate Test between India and Australia, on Friday (Dec 27), Rohit’s torrid run continued with the bat as he opened and departed for 3. Moreover, he looked clueless in his bowling changes as Australia posted 474 after being asked to bat first on the opening day of the Boxing Day Test. Hence, MSK lashed out at Rohit.
Rohit missed the series opener of the ongoing BGT, in Perth. In his absence, India won by 295 runs but everything has gone downhill for the visitors since Rohit’s arrival. He has struggled with the bat and several questions have been raised on Hitman’s captaincy, for his team selection and on-field calls.
In this regard, MSK said, on commentary, during Day 2 of the MCG Test, “You really raised the topic of Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. Heading into this series, you know, we had our 3-match series against New Zealand. It was pathetic. It never happened in the history of Indian cricket that we lost back-to-back 3 games. Rohit got absolutely no runs in that series, so he comes into this series. He didn’t play the first game. Bumrah led the side very well, so Rohit comes after the backdrop of continuous failures.”
Also read: MCG Test, Day 2 report: India hurt by late setbacks in response to Australia’s 474
The former Indian keeper-batter added, “I personally feel that has got a direct impact, you know, if you see that, you know, captain, you know, if he comes with some sort of form that has a direct impact on the side and he comes after a series of failures and that has clearly shown the way he led the side also he’s not proactive on many occasions. If you see in this Test match itself, you know, he had 11 overs bowled by Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah on a trot, especially when Sam Konstas was going tongs and tongs and that’s has been the case with his captaincy. He’s been struggling a bit both with his bat and also in captaincy.”
Talking about the second day’s play of the MCG Test, India ended at 164-5 in response to Australia’s 474. After Steve Smith’s 140 propelled the hosts to a big score, India fell from 153-2 to 164-5. Rohit opened the innings, after his failures at No. 6, but fell for 3 whereas Yashasvi Jaiswal (82) and Virat Kohli (36) fell in quick succession before stumps.