1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev has put his weight behind under-fire Rohit Sharma to bounce back stronger in the Border-Gavaskar Test series against Australia. Rohit missed the opening Test match at Perth to be with his family for the birth of his second child.
As KL Rahul grabbed his opportunity to open the innings, returning with scores of 26 and 77, Rohit decided to bat at number six at Adelaide. However, the move didn’t pay rich dividends as the Indian skipper registered scores of 3 and 6 in the pink-ball Test.
Before the Test series against Australia, Rohit could only manage 91 runs in three Test matches against New Zealand despite playing at home.
Kapil Dev said at an event at Delhi Golf Club, “Like Virat Kohli, he is one of the best cricketers in our country. If you put the four top batsmen, he will be there. If he is going through a rough time, it is only up to him how fast he can bounce back.”
“He doesn’t have to prove himself. He has done this for many, many years, so let’s not doubt somebody. I won’t doubt him. I hope his form comes back, that’s important,” he added.
Meanwhile, Rohit has been under the weather for his mundane performances and has received a lot of criticism. However, Dev shut down the naysayers, stating that six months ago, Rohit led India to T20 World Cup glory.
“With one or two performances, if you doubt someone’s captaincy, I mean, just six months back when he won the T20 World Cup, you wouldn’t have asked me this question. Let it go, knowing his ability and talent, he will come back. They will come back strongly.”
On the other hand, stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah led India to a big win of 295 runs but the former all-rounder said it would be too early to comment on the fast bowler’s leadership.
“I think it is too early to talk about that. With one performance, you can’t say he is the best, and with one bad performance, you can’t say he doesn’t deserve it.”
The third Test match between India and Australia will be played at the Gabba, Brisbane from December 14.
