Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma - whose batting form is more concerning after the 2nd BGT 2024-25 Test?
Australia beat India by 10 wickets in the second Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday, December 8. Among other things, the returns of star batters Virat Kohli (7 and 11) and Rohit Sharma (3 and 6) were most worrying for the visitors.
India were outplayed in all three departments by the hosts and were brought down to earth with a thud after they had won the first Test in Perth rather convincingly. The failure of their batting department to measure up in both innings - they were bowled out for 180 and 175 - was the biggest reason behind this defeat.
The question that the team management will be keen on addressing now is this: how do they arrest the fall? There is no doubt that the majority of the responsibility lies squarely upon the shoulders of Kohli and Sharma, the most senior batters in the side, and they will have to come up with the goods soon enough.
Kohli did his reputation no harm whatsoever when he scored an effusive, easy-to-the-eye century in the second innings in Perth but the manner of his dismissals in Adelaide will raise a lot of questions. These questions have perhaps been around for years but an aging gladiator is often seen as easy prey by measly critics.
On both occasions in Adelaide, Kohli was victim to his lapses in judgment of length added to the pressure that usually mounts when bowlers continually bowl a tight line and look to ensnare your focus. Technique, mental and otherwise, does little to help when one's confidence has been reduced to bits.
In the first innings, Kohli was in two minds on whether to leave or play at a Mitchell Starc delivery on good length while in the second, he tried to defend a ball in the fourth-stump line from Scott Boland. These two dismissals will weigh heavily on his mind when he walks out to bat in the Gabba in the third Test.
Kohli's willingness to play deliveries outside the line of his head may be the cause of his failures in seaming conditions but it is often the same reason why he is able to execute commanding drives from a length. However, the bounce in Australia is much truer than in other countries and hence can take some time to adjust to.
While Kohli's form is not worrying per se, it is the returns he has bagged. It will be too early to write him off, especially after the masterful innings he executed in Perth that played a major role in setting up the victory for India. With a potential six innings yet to come in this series, we could see big things from Kohli.
Rohit Sharma too has struggled of late
The case that one makes for Rohit Sharma, however, is entirely different. The India captain flew in towards the latter stages of the Perth Test and participated in the two-day warm-up game against Prime Minister's XI in Canberra before walking out to bat in a rather strange number six position in Adelaide.
In both innings of the Test, Sharma faltered against the ball coming in and was caught inside the crease. In the first, Boland managed to catch him plumb in front to a ball that came in from outside off, while in the second, Pat Cummins managed to beat his defences in a ball that held its line after pitching.
Sharma's unfamiliarity with the number six position may have a lot to do with the discomfort he faced in the middle but the quality of seam bowling was also a major reason. Playing his first Test in a high-profile series as captain of an ambitious side is never easy and perhaps the strains showed.
Sharma's returns before this Test do not make for good reading, either. In the six innings he played against New Zealand at home, he put up scores of 18, 11, 0, 8, 2 and 52. He will be itching to go back in the middle and try again to put things right and dominate the bowlers as he is so used to doing in the subcontinent.
To be fair, Kohli too had measly scores of 4, 1, 1, 17, 0 and 70 against the Kiwis and it is only his century in Perth that makes his recent record seem a tad better. It is clear that the two modern-day goliaths of Indian batting are struggling but are they in the twilight of their storied careers? It is still too early to tell.
Writing obituaries is not a task that any journalist relishes and one that he fervently wishes to be taken up by the undertaker's assistants. Sharma and Kohli both have a lot to offer to Indian red-ball cricket but the pressure the former is under makes him an easy target among vicious sections of the press.