Srinagar: Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has said that Rohit Sharma is part of India Test only because he is Captain.
India suffered a 184 run defeat in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground. Rohit’s batting woes have been a significant factor in India’s underwhelming campaign against Australia. Across five innings in the series, the 37-year-old has managed a paltry 31 runs at an average of 6.20, including two ducks.
“A player who has made about 20,000 runs—yet the way Rohit is struggling now, it seems his form is not supporting him at all. What’s happening now is that he is the captain, so he is playing. If he were not the captain, he might not be playing right now. You would have had a set team. K.L. Rahul would have been playing at the top. Jaiswal would have been there. Shubman Gill would have been there. If we talk about reality, considering how he is struggling with the bat, there might not have been a place for him in the playing XI,” Irfan Pathan told Star Sports.
“But because he is the captain, and you want to win the next match to draw the series, he stays in the team. But his form is so poor. Even in India, even before coming here, he wasn’t scoring runs, and he still hasn’t scored runs. This is a very disappointing scene when I see Rohit Sharma batting. Because whenever I see Rohit Sharma batting, I always want to see him bat. Whether it is test cricket or one-day cricket, But now, his form, the way he is going forward, whether it is his mindset or the coordination with his body, I can’t see that at all,” he added.