Former Australian skipper Michael Clarke feels the upcoming Border-Gavaskar trophy will be the last tour Downunder for the veteran duo of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. Clarke feels the star pair will retire before the next trip to Australia and they won’t be dropped from the team.
Meanwhile, Rohit scored 91 runs in three Test matches against the Kiwis at an average of 15.17 whereas Virat Kohli could only score 93 runs in three Test matches at an average of 15.50.
Furthermore, Rohit could only manage 42 runs in two Test matches at an average of 10.50 against Bangladesh, Kohli scored 99 runs in the same series at an average of 33. Thus, the veteran duo is under the pump for their ordinary performance in the recent past.
However, Kohli has scored 2042 runs in 25 Test matches against Australia at an average of 47.48, including eight centuries. Kohli has even better numbers while playing in Australia as he has scored 1352 runs in 13 Test matches at an impressive average of 54.08, including six centuries.
On the other hand, Rohit Sharma has scored 708 runs in 12 Test matches against Australia at an average of 33.71.
Speaking on Around the Wicket podcast, Michael Clarke said, “If it’s their last time here in Australia, I think it will be retirement. They won’t be dropped, but it the same breath, I think every cricketer knows that if you’re not making runs or taking wickets, there will be conversations around that kind of a thing.”
“Being the captain of the team, you get a slack for that, and if you’re the world’s best batter for the last 10 years – maybe longer – across formats, I think Virat may get a bit more slack than somebody else.”
Clarke, who led Australia to glory in the 2015 World Cup, wants Rohit and Virat to get back into form in the Border-Gavaskar series for Test cricket’s sake.
“I hope for this series’ sake, Test cricket’s sakes, they both come out, get back to their best form and score plenty of runs for India, but also Test cricket. We want to see the Australian attack which is a good one, take on the top-order batting of India which is pretty strong in itself,” he stated.
Clarke added that he expects the experienced duo to shine in the Australian conditions and feels the Australian bowlers need to find ways to get them out early.
“My brain doesn’t say they’re going to come here and fail. They will be tough ton get out and I think the Australian bowlers will need to find a way to dismiss them both early in the innings as often as they possibly can. I think they are probably coming into Australian conditions where they both like playing. Rohit Sharma plays fast bowling as good as anyone in that team,” said Clarke.
The opening Test match between India and Australia will be played at Perth from November 22 onwards.
