A bold and courageous decision

Right at the outset, a word of appreciation for the decision Gambhir took on the morning of the Sydney Test. Eversince the press conference the previous day, speculation was rife about the position of Rohit Sharma. It was confirmed on the morning of the game that he was actually dropped. The Indian team can say all they want that Rohit Sharma has been rested but it is clear as a day that he was dropped and rightly so. It was indeed a bold and courageous decision. Gambhir will have to live by the sword and die by the sword. If India goes onto lose one more Test miserably, Gambhir will berated but will be hailed a genius if India win.

Ravi Shastri was also of the same opinion. “If there was a home season coming up he might’ve thought of carrying on, but I think he might just pull the plug at the end of this Test,” he said on commentary. “He’s not getting younger … it’s not that India don’t have youngsters. There are very, very good players in the wings and it’s time to build. Tough decisions, but there is a time for everything.”

Why only Rohit?

Rohit Sharma has not been among the runs for quite a longtime. Ofcourse, the same can be said about Kohli too and Gill. Left to me, I would have dropped Kohli as well and would not have picked Gill. Gill’s top score in the SENA countries still remains the 91 he scored at the Gabba 4 years ago. It really is a miracle he somehow survives. He is another of those cricketers who learn the basics of the game at the highest level. Kohli whose performance has not been that different from that of Rohit, lingers on. It would have made perfect sense to drop both of them. Nevertheless, this is a good start.

Indian cricket is spoilt by the hero culture. So much so that, even when a superstar has not been performing, he still gets picked in the team. The coach is scared to take the obvious decision to drop such an errant player. Any player, who has played for a reasonable amount of time, can be expected to hold onto his spot until public opinion gets so much unfavourable that the selectors are forced to drop him. The public opinion against Rohit grew to a fever pitch. Yet, to drop the incumbent captain during the series takes a lot of backbone. Gambhir showed that in ample measure.

The wrong player chosen

Did the decision to drop Rohit pay any dividend? Only time can tell. The pitch seems to be having a lot of uneven bounce even for day one. Batting is likely to be tough throughout the game. As such, a score of 187 could prove to be tricky. This looks like those Indian rank turners where scores around 200 is match-winning but we will have to wait until the end of day 2, to gauge the pitch. On the face of it, dropping Rohit did not bring about any drastic change in the fortune because the replacement was Gill. Could anyone else replaced Rohit? Ofcourse, yes. There are a few batsmen in the dugout who could have replaced Rohit. I will not want Sarfaraz but Jurel certainly looks like a Test cricketer. It is unfortunate that after the first Test, he has been forgotten.

Jurel must not feel disheartened because pretty soon, spots will open in the team with the exit of Kohli and probably, Jadeja. If I were in Jurel’s shoes, I will forget IPL for 2025 and will make myself available to play in the English County Championship. Play in 5-6 games and be ready when the tour starts. BCCI is certain to not schedule any practice game. As such, jumping straight into Tests will ensure another disastrous batting display. Hence, to insulate himself and also to be ready when the opportunity arises, Jurel must spend sometime in England. It is assuming that he values playing for the nation higher than player for a franchise.

Anyway, Jurel would have been a better solution than Gill. If anything, he would not have performed poorer than Gill.

The game itself

Kohli continued with his outside the off flirting. He just couldn’t resist himself long enough. With no end in sight for Kohli’s troubles, it will be graceful of himself to leave the scene. His future lies in ODI only. Perhaps, he could play ODI for about a year and retire from all forms. Pant for his part, showed admirable restraint. The Aussie commentators were full of not to change Pant’s natural game and let him be for who he is. Well, India should not mind that. Always remember, Australians usually hunt as a whole. It includes the media, spectators, commentators and in the olden days, the umpires.

Never take an Aussie in the middle of a series on their face value. Pant’s resolve had to give way and he played one of his customary shot which proved to be his demise. Nitish after a wonderful hundred, has now gone without scoring a run in two consecutive innings.

Sundar is being wasted at number 8. Rohit did not make use of his bowling at Melbourne and we have to wait for what Bumrah does. However, if he is going to bat as low as number 8, he might as well give way for a bowler. Sundar is a good top order batsman who will serve the nation for quite awhile.

Wrapping up a bold and courageous decision

If India go onto win the game, it will be a miracle but the days of Rohit and Kohli the Test cricketers are closer to the end.

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