Indian captain Rohit Sharma had a terrible time in the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Rohit was very disappointing with the bat and even looked clueless as captain. His poor results even made him drop out of his final exam in Sydney.
Former Australian cricketer Kerry O’Keeffe spoke about the strategy adopted by Australia to attack the Indian captain and bring down the team immediately. O’Keeffe argued that Australia were successful in forcing Rohit Sharma to retire from the last match.
Australia’s tactics not only affected India’s combination but also brought Rohit Sharma’s career to the brink. There have been calls for his retirement, however, Rohit still feels there is something left in him.
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Kerry O’Keeffe reveals Australia’s strategy
Speaking to Fox Cricket, Kerry O’Keeffe claimed that the tactic of attacking the opposition captain had once again worked for Australia. According to him, Australia used the same tactics again and again whenever they won.
“So it happened. “Australia’s tactic for years has been to try to bring down the opposition captain, and it’s been, if you look at the series they’ve won, it’s worked all the time,” O’Keeffe said.
Australian bowlers attacked Rohit Sharma in the series. The Indian captain scored 31 runs in the three Tests he played at an average of just 6.20. That is the worst average by an Australian visiting captain and sums up his miserable Test run.
How did Australia attack the opposing captains?
Kerry O’Keeffe further cited examples of Australia attacking opposing captains in the past to bring down the entire team. He claimed that Australia were not successful against Ajinkya Rahane in BGT 2020-21 and lost the series as a result.
His examples also include Pakistan’s Shan Masood, West Indies’ Kraigg Brathwaite and New Zealand’s Tim Southee. All these players have recently led their teams against Australia, but individually they have not been good.
“They couldn’t get Rahane Ajinkya last time and he won the series. But if you look at the captains they have deposed in recent times, Sharma. Mark it. Shan Masood with Pakistan. It was three-zero. Kraigg Brathwaite, was one for all, but they were on top of Kraigge. “They went to New Zealand and demolished Tim Southee, winning two-nil,” added O’Keeffe.
Kerry O’Keeffe breaks down Australia’s strategy against Rohit Sharma
Kerry O’Keeffe further mentioned that Australia tried to attack Jasprit Bumrah but the fast bowler was too good for them. However, their tactics worked against Rohit Sharma as he was already out of form.
“They couldn’t bring down (Jasprit) Bumrah. He was too good. But then the baton was passed to Rohit Sharma and he was immediately brought down, to the extent that he withdrew from the final Test. It’s a tactic they seem to want to do if they can, if they can break the skipper and make him anonymous, that gives them strength,” O’Keefe noted.
Rohit Sharma played the second, third and fourth Tests of the series. He missed the first Test due to the birth of his second child and withdrew from the fifth Test due to poor form with the bat.
In Rohit’s absence, vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah led India in the first and fifth Tests. Bumrah led India to a historic win in Perth and almost guided the team to victory in Sydney before a back injury forced him to leave the game.
