Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has reflected on India skipper Rohit Sharma’s recent poor form in Tests, attributing it to a lack of confidence and self-doubt.
The 2024/25 Test season, which began with a series against Bangladesh, has been disastrous for Rohit. Not only did India suffer a rare home series whitewash (0-3) against New Zealand marking their first home series defeat in 12 years but Rohit also struggled with the bat.
He has scored just 152 runs in seven Tests at an average of 11.69, with only one fifty in 13 innings, his best score being 52. In 13 Tests this year, Rohit has accumulated 607 runs at an average of 26.39, including two centuries and two fifties in 24 innings, with his highest score being 131.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Manjrekar described Rohit’s performance in the New Zealand series as a “rude shock.” He noted that the Indian skipper’s defence was repeatedly breached on home pitches during the series.
“The first obvious answer is a lack of confidence with self-doubts. And it was a bit of a rude shock when he played in that home series against New Zealand, where his defence was getting breached on Indian pitches,” Manjrekar said.
The former cricketer recalled Rohit’s performance during the 2021 Test series against England, which he described as a turning point in Rohit’s Test career.
“I remember commentating on that series in 2021 against England and kept saying, ‘This is Pujara-like,’ the way he was grinding away. Somewhere, I thought it marked the rebirth of Rohit Sharma as a Test cricketer. He scored two hundreds in his first two Tests, and I felt this was his true calling–playing for time like a typical Mumbai batter,” Manjrekar added.
Meanwhile, the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series against Australia is currently tied at 1-1, with the third Test in Brisbane ending in a draw. The Boxing Day Test is set to begin on December 26 at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground.
India Squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar.
Australia Squad: Pat Cummins (C), Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Travis Head (VC), Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Marsh, Jhye Richardson, Steve Smith (VC), Mitchell Starc, Beau Webster.
