India captain Rohit Sharma. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
NEW DELHI: If India does not do well in their five-Test series in Australia, Rohit Sharma may retire from the longest format, so India needs to start preparing for his replacement, according to former captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth.
After winning India’s second T20 World Cup trophy in June, Rohit announced his retirement from Twenty20 internationals. However, the 37-year-old has been in poor form and acknowledged his lack of leadership during the recent 0-3 home Test thumping by New Zealand.
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India may be without Rohit for the first game in Perth beginning on November 22 due to personal reasons. India need to win four of their five Tests in order to go to the World Test Championship final for the third time in a row next year.
“You have to start thinking ahead. If Rohit Sharma doesn’t do well, I think he himself will retire from test cricket, for all you know,” Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel.
“He’ll play ODIs only. He has already left T20I cricket. We have to keep in mind that he’s also ageing.”
In Test cricket, Rohit has amassed 4,270 runs at an average of 42.27, but his recent performance has drawn criticism.
He has only scored six single-figure runs and one half-century in his previous ten innings. Against the Black Caps, he was guilty of playing careless shots at crucial times.
The captain was correct to acknowledge his mistakes in a press conference, according to Srikkanth, a former chief selector.
“Hats off to Rohit for accepting the fact that he played badly throughout the series and captained badly. That’s a great thing,” Srikkanth added.
“That’s the first move of a player to get back to rhythm. Accepting your fault is very important. That’s a very important quality of a human being.
“He accepted it openly. That means he’s on the road to recovery, that’s my opinion.”