"If they have gone over the top then the extra bounce will find them out"- Ian Chappell on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's struggles ahead of BGT
Former Australian captain Ian Chappell feels the form of India's stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma could worsen with the extra bounce on the Australian pitches during the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Team India take on Australia in a highly anticipated five-Test series, starting in Perth on November 22.
Despite winning their last four bilateral Test series against Australia, including two Down Under, India have several growing concerns following the embarrassing 0-3 home series whitewash to New Zealand.
Kohli and Rohit's woeful form is central among the concerns with the duo averaging under 16 in the three Tests against the Kiwis.
Speaking on Wide World of Sports' Outside the Rope, Chappell highlighted how the extra bounce on the Australian pitches could trouble the duo in their present form.
"The only thing I'd say against that is they're coming to Australia where the pitches are pretty good, but there'll be the extra bounce and if they have gone over the top then the extra bounce will find them out," he said.
Chappell was, however, impressed by youngsters Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill despite India's overall batting issues.
"India have got some batting problems. I think Jaiswal is a very good-looking young player, a left-hand opener, I think Gill can really play. But then you've got Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who are both aging, and you get to that point where people start talking about it and maybe it starts to creep into your head a little bit [where you think], 'Am I getting to that age where it starts to go downhill?', and they're both at that age," he added.
Kohli has historically enjoyed the Australian pitches, evidenced by his impressive average of over 54 in Tests Down Under.
However, Rohit has struggled in Tests in Australia with an average of under 32 in seven outings.
"You still need to make the bulk of your runs from your best players" - Mark Taylor
Another former Australian captain Mark Taylor felt the poor form of India's two best batters, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, has resulted in the youngsters and lower-order batters carrying extra pressure.
India struggled massively with the bat at home in the recent New Zealand series with only the lone score of over 300 in six innings.
"They [India] have moved on Pujara and they've moved on Rahane, and they've left Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, their best two players, but all of a sudden they've had a bit of a rocky period ... and that has put pressure now on the younger guys and also their lower order. You still need to make the bulk of your runs from your best players, and over the last probably 12 or 18 months that hasn't been the case for India," Taylor said in the same interaction.
India have to win at least four of the five Tests without losing a single game in the Australia series to control their 2025 World Test Championship (WTC) final qualification destiny.