The India captain has recently struggled to find his form in red-ball cricket.
After two crushing Test series defeats against New Zealand and Australia, there were speculations regarding skipper Rohit Sharma’s place in India’s red-ball squad for the tour of England. The former Australia batter Michael Clarke opined to include him in the team but suggested changing his position in the batting line-up. Instead of opening the innings, he could regain his form by playing in the middle-order, felt the World Cup-winning captain.
In the show “Backstage with Boria”, he explained how Rohit could be the “ideal” No.5 batter for India. He emphasised more on Rohit’s leadership than his recent individual performances. The former player also added that he would select Rohit Sharma for his excellent leadership skills for the away Test series against England.
“I think Rohit still has the game. Class is permanent and you have seen that in the Champions Trophy final. He would be an ideal No. 5. He can face the second new ball if needed, and if there are early wickets, he can hold things up as well. But Rohit loves to open and can blunt the new ball as well. If I was an Indian selector, I’d pick Rohit for England as the captain and leader”, said Clarke.
India has recently faced a slump in the Tests. Though the Men in Blue have been excellent in the recent ICC white-ball tournaments, they have performed contrastingly in the red-ball format. They have lost the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by 3-1, after winning it consecutively in 2018 and 2021. Skipper Rohit Sharma also had poor stats in that series. He managed to score only 31 runs in three matches and dropped himself from the final Test.
Previously, India also faced a 3-0 defeat against the New Zealand. This was also India’s first-ever whitewash in a three-match Test series at home. Apart from his 52 in the second innings in Bengaluru, captain Rohit made only 39 runs throughout the series.
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Rohit scored 368 runs in four Test matches in 2021. Moreover, his first overseas Test century came in England, when he notched up 127 runs in the fourth Test of the series. His heroics also included an 83 at the Lord’s and a 59 at the Headingley.
The Indian fans will want him to replicate these stats. The Men in Blue will don the whites for a five-match series against England starting from June 20.
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