India captain Rohit Sharma looked woefully out of form in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as he scored just 31 runs in three Tests at an average of just 6.20. He did not look confident at the crease and the relentless Australian bowling attack was too good for him.
During a tough phase, Rohit’s childhood coach Dinesh Lad has a golden piece of advice for him that can revive his Test career. Lad defended Rohit saying he is not the only player struggling for runs in Australia.
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Dinesh Lad talks about Rohit Sharma’s ambitions
While talking to IANS, Dinesh Lad spoke about Rohit Sharma’s remaining goals for the rest of his career. He claimed that Rohit could have retired from all formats after winning the T20 World Cup in 2024 but still aims to win the Test World Cup and ODI World Cup titles.
“I think Rohit has only two goals: first, to win the Test World Cup and second, to win the ODI World Cup. If he wanted to, he would have retired from all formats (after the T20 World Cup title), but he only retired from T20 cricket,” Lad remarked.
Rohit Sharma is unlikely to win the world Test title as India failed to qualify for the 2025 summit after losing the series to Australia. The final of the next cycle will be played in 2027, and it remains to be seen whether they will be able to perform in that match.
However, the 37-year-old promises to win the ODI World Cup title in 2027. He has already won two T20 World Cup titles, but he has a dream to win the World Cup. Rohit came close to lifting the title in 2023, but India suffered a heartbreaking defeat in the final.
Dinesh Lad’s golden tip for Rohit Sharma
Dinesh Lad further advised Rohit Sharma to play domestic cricket to prepare himself for the red ball format. He feels that T20 cricket has influenced the mindset of the players and domestic cricket can help Rohit get back among the runs.
“He is not the only cricketer who has struggled to score. He should play one or two domestic matches to prepare for the Test matches. Because of T20 cricket, the batsman’s mindset has changed,” claimed Lad.
“He is a technically good cricketer and against England last year he scored good runs. If we win, people call Rohit the best captain, but when we lose, people say he doesn’t know captaincy,” he added.
Australia reach WTC final; India knocked out
Meanwhile, Australia defeated India 3-1 in a high-voltage series to advance to their second consecutive WTC final. Australia are also the defending WTC champions and will now face South Africa at Lord’s in June 2025 for the summit clash.
On the other hand, India has been knocked out of the race to qualify for the WTC finals. It is the first time they have failed to qualify for the WTC finals. The men in blue managed to reach the summit clash on the last two occasions, but lost both times.
