India head coach Gautam Gambhir has come out in the defence of senior batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma following criticism from former Australia captain Ricky Ponting, and said the former Aussie skipper should better think about his national team.
Ponting had recently commented on Kohli’s form, suggesting that any other player with only two centuries in five years would not have survived in the team.
Addressing the media before departing for Australia for the five-match Test series, Gambhir responded to questions regarding the form of Kohli and Rohit.
Terming Ponting’s opinions on Indian cricket ‘irrelevant’, the former batter affirmed that both the big guns have a lot of passion and hunger for the team.
“Not at all…Ricky Ponting should think about Australian cricket, what concerns he has for Indian cricket? Virat and Rohit are incredibly tough men. They’ve achieved a lot for Indian cricket and they will continue to achieve a lot,” Gambhir said in the press conference on Monday.
“They still work really hard. They’re still passionate. They still want to achieve a lot more and that is something which is very important. The hunger in that dressing room is incredibly important for me and for the entire group of people as well in that dressing room. I feel there’s a lot of hunger, especially after what has happened in the last series,” he further added.
So far in 2024, both Kohli and Rohit have struggled to find their best form, attracting scrutiny following India’s recent 0-3 series loss against New Zealand. Rohit has accumulated 588 runs from 11 matches this year, averaging 29.40 with two centuries and two fifties. Meanwhile, Kohli has managed just 250 runs from six matches (12 innings), averaging 22.72 with just one half-century.
Their form is a significant concern as India prepares to face Australia, needing to win the series 4-1 to secure their spot in the World Test Championship Final (WTC). The performance of Kohli and Rohit will be crucial for India’s chances to progress to their third consecutive WTC final.
Following India’s shambolic fall against New Zealand on home turf, the road to the WTC final has become a tricky affair.
After the conclusion series opener in Perth, the second Test, featuring the day-night format, will take place under lights at Adelaide Oval from December 6 to 10. Fans will then turn their attention to The Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test from December 14 to 18.
The traditional Boxing Day Test, scheduled from December 26 to 30 at Melbourne’s iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, will mark the series’ penultimate stage.
The fifth and final Test will be held at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7, promising an exciting climax to a highly anticipated series.
India’s squad for Border-Gavaskar Series: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar.
Australia squad for the first 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.
