What is Rohit Sharma’s highest Test score in Australia?
Indian batsman Rohit Sharma joined the Test team in Melbourne having completed his quarantine period in Sydney.
For the Sydney Test, the 33-year-old is expected to replace either the struggling Mayank Agarwal at the top of the order or Hanuma Vihari in the middle order.
BCCI shared a video on its Twitter account, in which Rohit Sharma is seen interacting with his delighted teammates. Watch the video below:
Following India’s win at Melbourne, captain Ajinkya Rahane too had admitted that he was excited about the batsman joining the squad. Rahane had said:
"We are excited about Rohit coming back. Spoke to him yesterday, he's waiting to join the team."
Rohit Sharma missed the first two Tests due to the hamstring injury he suffered during the IPL and the subsequent rehabilitation and quarantine period.
While there is obvious excitement over Rohit Sharma joining the Test squad, the Mumbai Indians captain has a point to prove if he gets an opportunity to play in the next two Tests.
Rohit Sharma has a highest Test score of 63 not out in Australia
Popularly referred to as ‘Hitman’ owing to his limited-overs exploits, Rohit Sharma has a pretty disappointing record in Australia. In five Tests Down Under, he has only managed 279 runs at a pedestrian average of 31.
Shockingly, Rohit Sharma’s highest Test score in Australia is 63 not out. He achieved the same during the first innings of the Melbourne Test in 2018-19, which India won by 137 runs.
The fluent strokemaker has been on two Test tours to Australia, but is yet to make a significant impact. During his first visit in 2014/15, he played three Tests and scored 173 at an average of 28.83 with a best of 53.
In 2018/19, Rohit Sharma featured in two Tests and compiled 106 runs at an average of 35.33. The limited overs legend’s deficiencies in technique were exposed on the previous two tours.
Since India last visited Australia though, Rohit Sharma has reignited his Test career, moving to the top of the order. He tasted immediate success with scores of 176, 127 and 212 in the series against South Africa.
Those Tests were played at home though. Rohit Sharma is yet to be ‘tested’ as an opener away from home. He was supposed to get an opportunity in New Zealand, but missed out after injuring himself during the limited overs leg.
Not only Australia, Rohit Sharma has a poor Test record overall away from home. While his career Test average is an impressive 46.54 from 32 matches, the same falls to 26.32 in 18 Tests that he has played abroad. Definitely numbers Rohit Sharma will be keen to improve on during the current Australian challenge.
Believe it or not! Rohit Sharma is yet to play a home Test against Australia
Despite making his Test debut in 2013, Rohit Sharma is yet to play a Test match against Australia at home. All his five matches against the Aussies so far have come Down Under.