India captain Rohit Sharma looked woefully out of shape in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as he scored just 31 runs in three Tests at an average of just 6.20. He didn't look confident at the crease and the relentless Australian bowling attack was too good for him.
During the tough phase, Rohit's childhood coach Dinesh Lad has a golden piece of advice for him that can revive his Test career. Lad defended Rohit saying he is not the only player struggling for runs in Australia.
Dinesh Lad talks about Rohit Sharma's ambitions
During a conversation with IANS, Dinesh Lad spoke about Rohit Sharma's remaining wickets for the rest of his career. He claimed that Rohit could have retired from all formats after winning the T20 World Cup 2024, but he is still aiming to win the World Test Championship and ODI World Cup titles.
“I think Rohit has only two goals: first, to win the World Test Championship and second, to win the ODI World Cup. If he wanted to, he would have retired from all formats (after the T20 World Cup title), but he only retired from T20 cricket,” observed Lad.
Rohit Sharma is unlikely to win the World Test Championship title as India failed to qualify for the 2025 summit clash after losing the series to Australia. The final for the next cycle will be played in 2027 and it remains to be seen if he manages to play in that game.
However, the 37-year-old promises to win the ODI World Cup title in 2027. He has already won two T20 World Cup titles, but he has a dream to win the World Cup. Rohit came close to lifting the title in 2023 but India suffered a heartbreaking loss in the final.
Dinesh Lad's Golden Advice for Rohit Sharma
Dinesh Lad advised Rohit Sharma to play domestic cricket to prepare for the red ball format. He feels that T20 cricket has affected the mentality of the players and domestic cricket can help Rohit come back between the runs.
“He is not the only cricketer who has struggled to score. He should play one or two domestic matches to prepare for Test matches. Because of T20 cricket, the mindset of batsmen has changed,” claimed Lad.
“He is a technically sound cricketer and against England last year he scored good runs. If we win, people call Rohit the best captain, but when we lose, people say he doesn't know the captain,” he added he.
Australia reaches WTC final; India was knocked out
Meanwhile, Australia beat India 3-1 in a high-tension series to reach their second consecutive WTC final. Australia are also the defending WTC champions and will now face South Africa at Lord's in June 2025 for the summit clash.
On the other hand, India is out of the running for qualifying for the WTC finals. This is the first time they have failed to qualify for the WTC finals. The Men in Blue have reached the summit clash on the last two occasions, but have lost on both.