Former Australian batter Simon Katich has questioned Rohit Sharma’s captaincy in the second Border-Gavaskar Test against Australia, which the home team won convincingly by 10 wickets at Adelaide Oval. 

Katich feels Indian bowlers’ lengths on the opening day were on the shorter side and Rohit needs to be proactive in giving the right message to his bowlers. Rohit is under the pump for his performance with the bat as well, as he returned with scores of 3 and 6 while batting at number six in the second Test.

On the other hand, Katich observed that Jasprit Bumrah was spot on a leader in the opening Test at Perth, which the visitors won comprehensively by 295 runs. Bumrah was able to lead from the front as he had returned with match figures of 8-72 in the first Test of the series and thus bagged Player of the Match.

Simon Katich said on Around the Wicket podcast, “When you compare the two results, obviously, in Perth, Rohit Sharma missed out. And I thought Bumrah’s captaincy, and particularly, the use of his bowlers in the length that they bowled, was far superior to what we saw in Adelaide. In Perth late on Day 1 when Australia were 7/67, India attacked the stumps and bowled much fuller and straighter lengths.”

“Whereas, when you look at the pitch map for Adelaide, on the night of Day 1, they were a lot shorter and wider, and around the 7-8 meter mark. So they missed a trick. Rohit Sharma was at first slip; he saw it all unfold. He needs to be a bit more proactive with his quicks when that’s happening. Because Australia got out of jail in that session only being one down and as a result, went on to win the Test,” he added.

The third Test match between India and Australia will be played at the Gabba, Brisbane from December 14.