NEW DELHI: The inglorious conclusion to India’s illustrious home record has left the country facing the prospect that aging legends Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli may be nearing the end of their careers.
Virat and Rohit, frequently together, have been essential to every significant Indian victory over the past 17 years, including three World Cup championships, two World Test Championship (WTC) finals, and a 12-year winning streak in Test series played at home.
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After winning the T20 World Cup in the West Indies earlier this year, both players retired from T20 internationals, and their declining performance in Test cricket raises serious concerns before India travels to Australia for a five-Test series.
Fans are hopeful that captain Rohit and batting mainstay Kohli can score some runs in the third Test match against New Zealand, which begins on Friday, in an attempt to avoid a rare whitewash, before the Indian team departs for Australia.
At his best, opener Rohit was a graceful and free-scoring batsman who was part of India’s first two series victories in Australia in 2018–19 and 2020–21. However, in his last eight Test innings, he has only scored one fifty and six single-digit scores.
In the longest format, Kohli, who is regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of the modern era, has only scored two fifties in his last 12 innings and two hundreds in the previous five years.
The right-hander has struggled with left-arm spin, falling to Mitchell Santner of New Zealand in both innings in the second Test, and his average has fallen to 48.31.
“Virat Kohli’s Test record in the last two-three years has not been great against spin,” his former India team mate Dinesh Karthik told Cricbuzz.
After getting bowled by Santner’s delectable full toss in the first innings in Pune, Kohli appeared devastated, as though remembering how he would have smashed the ball to the boundary in his heyday.
“It’s obviously a recurring pattern where (left-arm) spinners have troubled him, and I think he will go and figure out what he needs to do to come out stronger,” Karthik said.
“He is a man who is searching for answers.”
However, India’s typically powerful and deep batting has been a huge disappointment in the two Test matches against New Zealand, so it is not just Rohit and Kohli who have failed.
They struggled for a pitiful 46 in Bengaluru and a meager 146 in Pune, and as they were unable to make any significant runs in the first innings, a comeback in either Test appeared unlikely.
India leads Australia by a slim margin in the WTC rankings, and a loss in Mumbai would require them to win four of the five Test matches played in Australia in order to get to their third straight final.
Whether Rohit, who is a year older, and Kohli, who turns 36 next week, can prolong their Test careers may also be decided in the coming months.