Time running out for Kohli, Rohit?
The inglorious end of India’s proud home record has left the cricket-mad nation grappling with the reality it has long been dreading — that ageing stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma might be approaching the end of the road. Through three World Cup titles, two World Test Championship (WTC) finals, and a 12-year Test series winning streak on home soil, Kohli and Rohit, often together, have been integral to every major Indian success of the last 17 years.
Both quit T20 Internationals after winning the World Cup and their diminishing returns in Test cricket is a huge concern ahead of India’s trip to Australia for a bumper five-Test series.
India will be hoping to avert a rare whitewash in the third Test against New Zealand starting on Friday with fans hoping skipper Rohit and batting mainstay Kohli will produce some runs before they fly off to Australia.
Opener Rohit, at his peak a free-scoring and elegant batter who helped India to their first two series triumphs in Australia in 2018-19 and 2020-21, has six single-digit returns and just one fifty from his last eight Test innings. Kohli, widely considered one of the batting greats of the modern game, has managed just two centuries in the last five years and only two fifties in his last 12 innings in the longest format.
The right-hander’s average has dropped to 48.31 and his struggles against left-arm spin — he fell to New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner in both innings of the second Test — has been conspicuous.
It is not just Rohit and Kohli who have come up short, however, as India’s usually strong and deep batting has been a major letdown in the two Tests against New Zealand. Their failure to put decent scores on the board in first innings meant a comeback in either Test was a tall order. India have a slender lead over Australia in the WTC standings and another defeat would mean they would need to win four of the five Tests Down Under to reach their third consecutive final. The next couple of months might also determine whether Kohli, who turns 36 next week, and Rohit, who is a year older, can extend their Test careers.
Harshit to join Indian squad ahead of third Test
Rookie pacer Harshit Rana will join the Indian squad ahead of the third Test against New Zealand in Mumbai after starring in Delhi’s first outright win of the ongoing Ranji Trophy season. Rana, who was already among the reserves, was released for Delhi’s match against Assam before the second Test in Pune.
Meanwhile, former New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson will miss the third Test starting on Friday in the hope that his groin strain clears up in time to face England next month, New Zealand Cricket said. The Blacks Caps managed a first ever Test series triumph in India without the master batsman, who has remained in New Zealand to work on his recovery from the injury he sustained in a recent series against Sri Lanka.
