Rohit concerned over senior batters' performance ahead of Australia tour
What's the story
Indian cricket team captain, Rohit Sharma, has voiced his concern over the poor show of senior batters in the recently-concluded Test series against New Zealand. The team faced a historic defeat at home, the first time India has been clean-swept in a three-match Test series. The dismal performance has raised questions over the team's preparedness for their upcoming tour of Australia.
Learning curve
Rohit urges team to learn from mistakes
In a post-match press conference, Rohit stressed on the need to improve. He said, "It is a concern when seniors aren't scoring runs. But what's done is done.""As a player, as a captain, as the team, we all have to look forward and see how we can correct what we didn't manage to achieve here. We have an opportunity to do something special in Australia. We'll focus on that now," he added.
WTC standings
India's precarious position in ICC World Test Championship
The recent string of defeats has placed India in a precarious situation in the race to the ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 final. To clinch a direct berth in the WTC Final, India now have to win four and draw one out of their next five matches in Australia. This further adds to the pressure on the team as they gear up for the upcoming tour.
Analysis
India outplayed in the series by New Zealand
The 133-run defeat in Pune was India's first home Test series loss after 4,331 days. The last such defeat came in 2012 against England under MS Dhoni's captaincy. In the Bengaluru Test, India were bowled out for a paltry 46 runs in their first innings and never recovered. Meanwhile, despite Rishabh Pant's twin half-centuries during the Mumbai Test, his efforts couldn't win India the match.
Information
Rohit and Kohli failed to deliver for India
After struggling versus Bangladesh in the series at home, Rohit's poor form continued against the Kiwis. He scored 2, 52, 0, 8, 18 and 11. On the other hand, Virat Kohli struggled big time, posting scores worth 0, 70, 1, 17, 4 and 1.