Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli ordered to ‘retire immediately’ as fan anger reaches optimum levels

Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s collective failure as batters and leaders during the three-match Test series against New Zealand took the fans’ anger to stratospheric heights. So much so that the pillars of India’s batting line-up, feared and respected by everyone in the cricketing world, were ordered to withdraw from Test cricket with immediate effect. Rohit scored 91 runs in the three matches at an average of 15.16. His highest score was 52. Kohli, on the other hand, scored only 93 runs in as many matches at an average of 15.50. After knocking out his 70-run knock in the second innings in Pune, Kohli amassed 23 runs in the rest of the five innings in the series.

Rohit and Kohli’s dismal form was reflected in India’s poor batting performance in the three Tests. Barring the second innings in Pune, where Sarfaraz Khan and Rishabh Pant formed a record partnership to take the Indian total above 450, India crossed the 200-run mark only once in the rest of the series. They were bowled out for 46 – their lowest ever at home – in the first innings of the Bengaluru Test.

Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja were the only Indian batters to score consistently in the series, but the contributions from the others were so minimal that India crashed to their first ever whitewash at home (in a series consisting of at least three Tests).

Rohit agreed that he was not good enough, both as a captain and as an opener. He was dismissed by pacers on spin-friendly tracks, and the shot he played in the second innings in Mumbai to throw away his wicket even before the spinners came to bowl raised quite a few eyebrows.

Kohli was no better. His shortcomings against left-arm spinners were exposed like never before. Mitchell Santner and Ajaz Patel surprised him by beating him both inside and outside.

The sudden demise of Rohit and Kohli was a bit too much for the fans. Generally, those who were busy discussing the ‘best batsman’ between Kohli and Rohit demanded their retirement.

There is a strong possibility that the upcoming five-match Test series against Australia will be the last for at least two of the four senior players – Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin – who are nearing the end of their international careers. This was reported by news agency PTI.

An informal discussion could take place between BCCI chiefs and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar, head coach Gautam Gambhir and skipper Rohit on the way forward for an aging team.

“There will certainly be some stock taking and it could be informal as the team leaves for Australia on November 10. But this has been a huge debacle but now that the Australian series is around the corner and the squad has already been announced, there will be no tinkering,” a senior BCCI source told PTI on condition of anonymity.