Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar backed Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli after their bad performance in the recently concluded three-Test match series against New Zealand. New Zealand defeated India 3-0 to whitewash the series. This was India's first home Test whitewash since South Africa's 2-0 victory in the 1999-2000 season. This marks the first time India has been swept 0-3 in a home series.
Since India's loss, there have been a lot of talks about Virat and Rohit's performance against the BlackCaps as both batters are currently going through a rough patch as Rohit has scored only 133 runs in his last 10 Test innings, while Kohli hasn't fared much better, scoring 192.
However, in the exclusive conversation with Sports Tak, Gavaskar reckoned that the failure from Kohli and Rohit is understandable. He also remembered Kohli's 70-run knock in the second innings during 1st Test at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
"Totally understandable (focus on Kohli and Rohit failures). This is one of those rare series where both of them have not been able to score runs (Kohli and Rohit). Don't forget, Kohli got a 70 in the second innings in Bengaluru. It's just one of those rarities where both these stalwarts have not been able to make significant contributions," he said
"Something like this... look, a bad patch comes to everybody. Sometimes, a couple of bad patches can happen. that's what sporting life is all about. But, how you come back from those bad patches tell how good a player you are and your character as a sports person. What we are going to see in Australia is really going to be interesting. What we are going to see in Australia will determine the future of the Test team" added Ganguly
He also said that the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy will decide the future of the Indian Test cricket team. He reckoned that if they don't score runs in Australia there will be clamour for a new-look Indian team for the England series.
"Definitely yes. If they don't score runs in Australia, there will be a clamour for a new-look Indian team to start from the tour of England," he added.
India are scheduled to play five Test matches against Australia which will start from November 22.
