India skipper Rohit backs Kohli to fix off-stump issues

Kohli has frequently chased balls moving away from his stumps, resulting in his dismissal

By Reuters

Published: Tue 24 Dec 2024, 12:39 PM

Last updated: Tue 24 Dec 2024, 12:41 PM

India captain Rohit Sharma has backed Virat Kohli to overcome his problems with deliveries outside the off-stump in Australia, saying on Tuesday that players of his calibre always find a way to succeed.

Kohli arrested a long run of poor form with an unbeaten century in the first Test in Perth but has frequently chased balls moving away from his stumps in the current five-match series, resulting in his dismissal.

"Modern-day greats will figure out their own ways (to deal with the issue)," Rohit told reporters ahead of the Boxing Day test in Melbourne.

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Rohit's own batting frailties in the longest format have been laid bare in recent matches. The captain has managed scores of three, six and 10 since rejoining the team for the second test following the birth of his son.

His move to the middle order has done little to inspire confidence but Rohit was tight-lipped about a potential switch back to the opening slot where he can be devastating.

"Let's not worry about that. I think 'who bats where?' is something that we need to figure out within ourselves. It's not a thing I should be discussing in every press conference.

"Whatever it takes for our team to look good or gives us the best chance to succeed, we'll try and do that."

Rohit also backed young batter Shubman Gill amid his poor form in Test cricket.

In 12 Tests away from home, Gill has scored 616 runs in 22 innings at an average of 30.80, with one century and two fifties. His best score is 110. However, in 10 Tests in SENA countries, he has scored just 481 runs in 19 innings at a sub-par average of 26.72, with two fifties that came during his debut Test tour in Australia, including the memorable knock of 91 at Brisbane which helped India win the series. Since that knock, in the next 13 innings, he has failed to score even a fifty.

"If he gets going, we all know he can be very dangerous. Look, in both innings in Adelaide I thought he looked pretty good, he just didn't go on to convert that start into a big score," Rohit said.

"He got, I think, 25-30 odd in both innings. And I'm not going to look too much into Brisbane, got out second or third ball, you can't really look too much into it.

"But Gill has obviously been one of our young prospects who is coming up and playing really, really well. These tours can be challenging, it's the same thing when some of these teams travel to India, it's very hard for them as well."

After winning the first Test by 295 runs, India crashed to a 10-wicket defeat in Adelaide before battling to a draw in the rain-hit third match in Brisbane.

"At 1-1, I think it's a fair reflection," Rohit added.

"Both teams have played solid cricket and these two Tests are going to be so important for both teams.

"We want to break it down to Melbourne and focus on what we can achieve here, get things right and play well."

India added uncapped Mumbai all-rounder Tanush Kotian to the squad for the final two Tests after ruling out the inclusion of seamer Mohammed Shami due to a knee injury.

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