Pressure on Rohit, Virat to deliver down under after dismal show in Tests in 2024

Rohit Sharma could not hide his disappointment after New Zealand crushed India by 113 runs in the second Test to seal the series 2-0. He rightly pointed out that the Kiwis outplayed his side in all departments. "It is a collective failure; as a team, we failed to accept the challenges thrown at us," Sharma said at the post-match presentation.

In team sports, it is harsh to single out individual setbacks, but still, it is only fair to point out the recurring failures of key players. In this case, captain Rohit Sharma and star batter Virat Kohli, who is India's leading run-getter in Test cricket among active players.

Rohit and Virat have been poor in three of their four innings against New Zealand. Barring the fifties, they hit in the third innings in Bengaluru, the duo combined just 28 runs in two Tests. In Bengaluru, if not for a brilliant 150 from Sarfaraz Khan and a 99 from Rishabh Pant, India would have plunged to an innings defeat because the senior batters had failed to build momentum.

This year, Virat has not played frequently due to personal reasons. Since January, he has played in just five Test matches but has failed to score even a fifty. In his last ten innings, the highest he made was a 47 in the first innings of the Kanpur Test against Bangladesh last month. Virat has averaged 27 in Test matches this year.

Rohit has fared slightly better, or has he? In the 10 Test matches the skipper played in 2024, he hit two centuries and as many fifties. But 559 runs from 19 innings at an average of just over 30 isn't what you expect from the man who controls the Indian dressing room.

Rohit and Virat will be under pressure when India tour Australia for the five-Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy starting November 22. India's 18-member BGT squad is devoid of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane for the first time since 2011-12. Pujara, the only active player with 2000+ runs in BGT, had returned to form in domestic cricket with a double century for Saurashtra in a Ranji Trophy match.