Former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly has backed Rohit Sharma to turn things around on the upcoming England tour. Rohit could only manage 31 runs in three Test matches in the Border-Gavaskar series against Australia at an average of 6.20.
Thus, he failed to lead from the front on the Australian tour as India suffered a 1-3 series loss and also failed to qualify for the World Test Championship final.
Subsequently, Rohit led India to Champions Trophy glory after he scored a match-winning knock of 76 runs in the summit clash against New Zealand. While Rohit has been consistently delivering the goods in the 50-over version, he hasn’t been at his best in the red-ball version. Ganguly said Rohit must take the onus on his shoulders to turn things around in the multi-day format.
Sourav Ganguly said on RevSportz, “I’m not surprised that he’s taken the side to greater heights in white ball. I don’t know whether he’s going to continue playing Test cricket but if he is hearing me, he should take the responsibility of turning things around in red-ball. India are not good at red-ball at the moment and they need to look at it, find a way to play well in England because that’s going to be a very important five-Test series. Rohit has to find a way to get this team going.”
Meanwhile, Rohit hasn’t been at his best in the last three-four years in the red-ball version. Rohit could only manage 619 runs in 14 Test matches in 2024 at an average of 24.76.
“What has surprised me is his form in red ball over last four-five years. A player of his stature and ability, he can do much better than what he has done. He must put on his thinking cap because we have five Tests against England and that’s going to be another hard series. Just like the way it was in Australia. It’s going to seam; it’s going to swing. India need him to perform in the red ball but in white ball, he is one of the greatest ever.”
Rohit had a successful tour of England in 2021, scoring 368 runs in four Test matches at an average of 52.57 and he would look to replicate the same.
