Rohit Sharma moved himself in his customary opening position for the Boxing Day Test after a short stint in the middle order during the second and third Test of the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT). But none of those moves have proved fruitful, with another failure in the second innings of the Melbourne Test adding to the Indian skipper’s batting woes.
Dismissed for 9 by Pat Cummins on the final morning of the fourth Test in Melbourne, Rohit’s appalling aggregate in five innings so far on the tour of Australia reads 31, giving him an average of 6.20. Unless he resurrects that by returning to form in the last Test at Sydney, an ignominious record is set to be written in the name of Rohit.
At present, his average is the worst for any visiting captain in a Test series in Australia. Here’s the list:
1. Rohit Sharma – India – batting average 6.20 (Year 2024-25)
2. Courtney Walsh – West Indies – 7.75 (1996-97)
3. Ivo Bligh – England – 8.25 (1882-83)
4. Arthur Gilligan – England – 9.14 (1924-25)
5. Dean Elgar – South Africa – 9.33 (2022-23)
Rohit missed the first Test of this series as he was on a paternity leave after the birth of his child. Standing in for Rohit as captain, Jasprit Bumrah led India to a massive 295-run victory.
Rohit took over the leadership duty in the pink-ball Test at Adelaide, which India lost by 10 wickets. The visitors then hung in to force a draw in the third Test at Brisbane. Rohit batted at No. 6 in both the matches, sacrificing his slot for KL Rahul who had been batting well on the top of the order along with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
But with runs continuing to elude the India captain, he decided to return to the opening position for the fourth Test in Melbourne as Rahul shifted to No. 3. However, Rohit’s bat remained silent as he was dismissed for 3 and 9 in the two innings.
Australia, who were dismissed for 234 in their second innings at Melbourne, set India a challenging 340-run target on the final day.