Rohit Sharma FLOPS on his return as Test opener, average drops to 11 in…, WATCH Indian skipper’s dismissal

Rohit Sharma was dismissed for just 3 after return to the opening slot on Day 2 of the Boxing Day Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Team India captain Rohit Sharma returned to the opening position after batting at No. 6 in the second and third Test at Adelaide and Gabba but his batting fortunes didn’t change. After Australia posted a massive 474 runs after electing to bat first in the Boxing Day Test, Rohit’s batting woes continued on Day 2 of the fourth Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

The Indian skipper departed for just 3 off 5 balls, trying a half-hearted pull shot off Pat Cummins which was skied to Scott Boland at mid-off in the second over of the innings. Rohit now has a woeful average of just over 11 in his last 14 innings in Test cricket.

WATCH Rohit Sharma get dismissed by Pat Cummins at the MCG HERE…

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma is gone for just three runs! #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/m1fLiqKLO7

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 27, 2024

Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar felt it was a ‘poor call’ for Rohit Sharma to break the KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal opening partnership. “It was a poor call to break up the opening partnership of Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul to give a ‘big name’ cricketer like Rohit Sharma to regain his form. Jaiswal and Rahul had put on a record partnership in the first Test at Perth and India seemed to have found a good combination for Australian conditions.

“I know Rohit and Jaiswal have also done well as an opening partnership but it was in sub-continent conditions. For me it was a poor call by Indian team management,” Manjrekar said on air on Star Sports on Friday.

Rohit Sharma ironically has less runs than Jasprit Bumrah’s wickets in the four Tests so far in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) series. Rohit has managed only 22 runs in 5 innings while Bumrah has claimed 25 wickets in 4 Tests so far with Indian skipper missing the first Test at Perth due to the birth of his second child.

The Indian captain has scored only one fifty in his last 14 innings in which he has scored 155 runs at an average of 11.07.