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Indian captain Rohit Sharma has been on the receiving end of criticism for not being able to lead from front with the bat. Rohit failed to score a single half-century in the five Test matches at home. He couldn't score even 100 runs in the three-Test series against New Zealand which has raised concerns ahead of the all-important Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 in Australia. Former Indian cricketer Ajay Jadeja feels India got a wake up call before the Australia tour. He backed Rohit to do well in Australia and lead India to World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final.
“You get a wake up call, like our team did now. We won the World Cup this year, [you’re] top of the world, you’re the best team, and best captain. Rohit Sharma, I feel for him. Suddenly he is fat, he does not move well.
“I think we’ll do well. We may not do as well as to make it to the World Test Championship final but I feel we should come back with a series win. We are a better side,” Jadeja said during the Sportstar Sports Conclave.
India have been victorious in last two Test series on Australian soil. Jadeja was asked about how India have been able to dominate in Australia like no other team in history.
“Our cricket has changed, earlier India went there once in eight years so there were just one or two players who had played there. Now you have multiple tours, so they are well equipped. When you have nothing to lose, you will be dangerous,” the 53-year-old said.
Rohit's record in Australia
Rohit does not have a good record on Australian soil. He is yet to score a Test century in Australia. So far, he has scored 408 runs from seven Tests at an average of 31.38 including three half-centuries on Australian soil. On the last tour of Australia, he scored 129 runs from four innings.
The first Test of the series will be played at Perth Stadium starting November 22. Australia on November 10 announced their 13-man squad for the first Test. Nathan McSweeney has been confirmed as the opener. Also, Josh Inglis has been added as a cover.
Australia's squad for Perth Test
Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Mitch Marsh, Nathan McSweeney, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc
India's 18-man Test squad
Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. Reserves: Mukesh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Khaleel Ahmed
