Ex-India all rounder Irfan Pathan has now come out in favor of the banter that was circulating around Rohit Sharma during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. The disclosures follow Rohit having opted out of the fifth and final Test because of a run of low scores. This was after he had a poor performance in the preceding matches of the series.
Rohit Sharma’s Test Struggles in Australia
Rohit was also absent in the first Test, and he came back to the team only to play 164 runs in three innings with only one half-century. Speculations of his place in the team led to his poor batting average of 6.20 (the worst by any visiting skipper in Australia having at least five innings).
Irfan, who interviewed Rohit in Sydney, revealed that the broadcasters were under an obligation to hold a sympathetic approach towards the then India captain, even though his situation was very clear. “Rohit Sharma is an amazing player in white-ball cricket, but his average in Test cricket that year was 6, so we said that if he was not the captain, he would not have had a place in the team, and this is true,” Pathan said in a snippet shared by Lallantop.
Inside the Sydney Interview Controversy
Pathan justified that the apparent favoring of Rohit during the broadcast was not because they favored him but more of etiquette. “People say that we supported Rohit Sharma more than necessary. Naturally, when a person arrives to interview on your broadcasting channel, you will not misbehave with him/her, will you? You have invited him, so you will behave politely,” he added.
He explained that the tone of the interview appeared supportive but it did not alter the fact that Rohit position in the playing XI was in jeopardy. “When Rohit came to interview, we were, of course, polite, and we had to show that, because he was our guest. That was related and claimed we were backing him but it was we who said…we had said he should continue to fight, but that said, he should not have been in the playing XI. If he was not the captain of the team, he would have been dropped,” Pathan explained.
Rohit Sharma’s Test Career in Retrospect
Australian tour was the last tour that Rohit Sharma played in the Test format since he announced his retirement in the recent past ahead of the India tour to England. Soon after, the exit of former India skipper Virat Kohli out of Tests ended another big era in Indian cricket.
Rohit has played 67 Tests with his debut Test being against the west indies in November 2013. He made 4,301 runs with an average of 40.57 with 12 centuries and 18 fifties. He has the best of 212, although, in an unforgettable home series against South Africa in 2019 and the contrast between his achievements in white-ball cricket and his inability to achieve the same in the longer form.
The Legacy of Leadership and Performance
Whereas the captaincy of Rohit has retained him in the team in such rough periods, the remarks of Pathan serve to reinforce the fact that performance is the key in Test cricket. The case of Rohit shows that even the top players must fight between leadership and individual performance. With more than a decade of career, his contribution to Indian cricket, especially in white-ball cricket where he has dominated, is everlasting.
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