Following India’s humiliating 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand in the recent Test series, their chances of qualifying for the World Test Championship 2025 final now hinge on their performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli faced a lot of flak for their poor individual performances, scoring a combined total of 184 runs across the three matches. As India prepares for the crucial five-match series, former Australian captain Michael Clarke has taken a dig at Kohli and Rohit. Rohit scored a lowly 91 runs in six innings with a batting average of 15.16. He scored just one fifty in three Tests. Meanwhile, Kohli scored 93 runs in six innings with a batting average of 15.50. His highest score remained 70 across the series.
Will Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma retire after Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-2025?
Michael Clarke hinted that the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy could mark the final Australian tour for Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. He further suggested that their performances in this series could potentially determine their future in the Indian Test team, hinting at potential selection decisions if they fail to deliver.
“If it is their last time here in Australia, I think it will be retirement. They would not be dropped, but in the same breath, I think every cricketer knows that if you are not making runs or taking wickets, there will be conversations around that kind of a thing,” Clarke said during an interaction with ESPNCricinfo.
Michael Clarke expressed hope that both Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma would regain their form for the upcoming series and for the sake of Test cricket.
“I hope for this series’ sake, Test cricket’s sakes, they both come out, get back to their best form and score plenty of runs for India, but also Test cricket. We want to see the Australian attack which is a good one, take on the top-order batting of India which is pretty strong in itself,” the former Australia skipper concluded.
India’s squad for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy:
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (WK), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (WK), R Ashwin, R Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed
Australia’s squad for Border-Gavaskar Trophy’s Perth Test
Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc