Test futures of Rohit and Kohli their choice and decision as Gambhir wants test hopefuls to take domestic cricket seriously.
Test futures of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will now be the talking point for a while as India lost the Border Gavaskar Trophy 3-1 after their loss in Sydney.
The fates of senior batsman Virat Kohli, who gave up his eighth score of 20 or less in the series, and India’s captain Rohit Sharma, who stood his own in the Sydney Test, are hugely uncertain.
Although he offered them encouragement, head coach Gautam Gambhir let the players make the final decision.
“I can’t talk about the test futures of any player,” Gambhir said at the press conference after the series. “It’s up to them as well. But yes, what I can say is that they still have the hunger. They still have the passion. They’re tough people. And hopefully they can continue to take Indian cricket forward. But ultimately, as we all know, that whatever they plan, they will plan for the best interest of Indian cricket.”
With just one fifty-plus score in his last eight Test matches, Rohit’s average has been 10.93. At lunch on the second day, he told Star Sports that he had decided not to play in the fifth Test because he believed it would have been difficult for the team to win with so many batsmen out of form.
Additionally, he made it clear that he was not yet ending his Test cricket career.
Meanwhile, Kohli’s weakness outside of the off-stump has left him unhappy. All eight of his previous trips to the crease have ended with the wicketkeeper snatching away his outside edge or him getting caught in the slips, notwithstanding his undefeated hundred in Perth. When that occurred in Melbourne, he sagged over his bat.
He had been playing an innings that looked, in Steven Smith’s words, like a masterclass until then. In Sydney, when it happened again, he yelled at himself and punched his leg.
“First of all, every individual knows where their game and hunger is,” Gambhir, who had himself gone through a phase late in his career where he was out of form but battling to make the team. “That’s the most important thing for any sport and any profession. It’s not just about the sport.
“It’s about how hungry you are, how passionate you are, and whether the team is moving forward with your contribution or not. Because ultimately, it’s neither my team, nor your team, it’s the country’s team. I believe, as I said, there are very honest players in our dressing room who know how hungry they are.
“But yes, as far as my question is concerned, my biggest responsibility is that I have to be fair to everyone in that room. Not only one or two individuals. If I’m fair to only two or three individuals, and not to everyone else, then I’m being dishonest to my job. So whether it’s a player who hasn’t debuted yet, or a player who has played 100 Test matches, my simple goal in my job is that I have to be absolutely fair and equal to everyone.”
Before heading to the UAE for their portion of the Champions Triphy matches, which are being hosted by Pakistan, India will next play England at home in a T20I and ODI series in January and February. The Ranji Trophy, which begins on January 23 following a hiatus, is a possibility for the players who are left off of those squads.
“I would always like everyone to play domestic cricket,” Gambhir said. “That is how much importance domestic cricket needs to be given. Not only one game. If they’re available and they have the commitment to play red-ball cricket, everyone should play domestic cricket. As simple as it can get.
“If you don’t give importance to domestic cricket, you will never get the desired players what you want in Test cricket.”