BGT 2024-25: Harbhajan Singh Comments on Rohit Sharma's Form Impacting His Captaincy
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Adelaide, Dec 8 (NationPress) Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh has expressed his concerns over captain Rohit Sharma's batting form, suggesting that it may influence his leadership abilities in the current Border-Gavaskar Trophy after a disheartening 10-wicket defeat to Australia in the second Test on Sunday.
Rohit, who was absent from the first Test of the series in Perth due to the birth of his second child, managed to score only 3 and 6 in the pink-ball Test at Adelaide Oval. The 37-year-old's performance in Test cricket has been under scrutiny since India's historic 0-3 home defeat to New Zealand last month. During that series, Rohit also struggled to find his rhythm in the red-ball format, accumulating just 91 runs over six innings, with 52 coming in the second innings of the Test in Bengaluru.
The seasoned cricketer emphasized that Rohit's batting struggles may negatively affect his decision-making skills as he leads the team through the remainder of the series.
"When such a big player doesn't score runs, it will become a slight cause for concern. We know that Rohit has great ability and has scored a lot of runs for India. However, he didn't score runs in this match and the previous series as well. When the runs are not scored, the pressure comes on the batter," Harbhajan stated on Star Sports.
Harbhajan further remarked that Rohit should put his past struggles behind and concentrate on regaining his form, especially with the World Test Championship (WTC) final approaching.
"We wouldn't want the Indian captain to feel the pressure of having to score his own runs, as it could affect his captaincy too. We hope he returns to form. The conditions at other venues like Brisbane might suit him better. He needs to move past this match and think about how to improve moving forward and how the team can perform better because the team's success is more crucial than his individual form," Harbhajan noted.
This marked Rohit's fourth consecutive Test defeat as captain, placing him among the unfortunate list of Indian Test captains with the most consecutive losses, joining legends like MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Sachin Tendulkar.
In Rohit's absence, Jasprit Bumrah led India to a commanding 295-run victory against Australia in the series opener in Perth. The third Test between India and Australia is scheduled to take place in Brisbane from December 14.
