Since then, there have been lot of doubts regarding Rohit’s future in the longest format of the game. A lot of experts and former players have advised him, including legend like Sunil Gavaskar, who advised him to return to domestic cricket and improve his skills. Now, former Indian batting coach Sanjay Bangar has advised Rohit to follow the road of two of his ex-teammates in this case.

In an interaction with Star Sports, Bangar stated that Rohit should follow players like Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, who mad a return to domestic cricket after they got dropped. Bot the experienced batters have been working hard in domestic cricket.

“There’s been a lot of talk about playing domestic cricket. Players like Pujara and Rahane, who are on par with Rohit Sharma in stature, have been dropped in the past but have shown their hunger by playing in domestic cricket. Even today, they are sweating it out in domestic grounds, which are a big drop from the intensity of international cricket,” Bangar said.

Sanjay Bangar also believes that if Rohit makes a return to domestic cricket and performs, no one will be able to stop him from Test matches. However, for such a scenario to happen, decent form and a hunger to play from Rohit’s side must be evident.

“Rohit has expressed his desire to continue playing for India and has said,” I am not going anywhere; I still want to play.’ If he follows through and performs in domestic cricket, no one can stop him. But that form and hunger must be evident,” Bangar said

Rohit Sharma had a lean patch in the recently-concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy, where India lost the series 1-3. He scored 31 runs in the five innings he played in. The only match where India won was the series opener in Perth, where Rohit was not even present in the country. He also decided to opt out from the final Test of the series because of his bad form and performance.

The post Ex-India coach wishes Rohit Sharma to follow TWO of his Former Teammates appeared first on Cricket Country.

Between reports of unrest in the dressing room, Gambhir tried to end the rumours by claiming that they were just reports and not the truth. The reports were suggesting that after the defeat in Melbourne, Indian dressing room has gone into chaos as Gambhir has been fed-up with the recent below-par performances.

The reports also suggested that head coach also wanted veteran batter Cheteshwar Pujara to be in the team, but this request got turned down by the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee.

“Debates between coach and player should remain in the dressing room. Stern words. They were just reports, not truth,” Gambhir said while speaking in the pre-match press conference.

“Indian cricket will be in safe hands till honest people stay in the dressing room. The only thing that keeps you in the dressing room is performance,” Gambhir added.

Reports also suggested that some issues have been noticed with a senior player going to project himself as an option to replace Rohit as a captain. India will now face Australia for the fifth and final Test of the ongoing series in Sydney from January 3.

The post ‘They were just reports…’: Gautam Gambhir breaks silence on Debate within dressing room appeared first on Cricket Country.

The report also stated that Gambhir urged the selection committee to re-include Test specialist Cheteshwar Pujara into the team for Australia tour. However, his request was ignored by the Ajit Agarkar-led committee. Even after India had won the Perth Test, Gambhir was reportedly asking for Pujara’s inclusion.

Pujara was among the star performers for the Indian team during their previous 2 victories over Australia, but hasn’t been given a chance to feature for the Men in Blue since the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) final.

The report further stated that the atmosphere in the Indian dressing room has been divided for some time now with unrest being caused over team selection as well.

Gambhir has also reportedly not seen eye-to-eye with the selectors and captain when it comes to deciding the playing XI for the Australia series. 

The post Gautam Gambhir wanted THIS veteran star in India squad for Border-Gavaskar series: Report appeared first on Cricket Country.

Vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah is the lone warrior for India in the bowling department. The legendary pacer has bagged 21 wickets in three Tests, and is currently the highest wicket-taker in the ongoing series.

Pujara, who used to be India’s one of the most consistent Test performers, believes that batting is a little better because the middle order and lower-middle order are contributing with the bat, but the bowling is going to be the main weakness in the Boxing-Day Test.

“My biggest question and the reason for a little bit of concern is that the Indian bowling is looking a little weak,” Pujara told Star Sports.

“Batting is a little better, like the top five didn’t do well, but the middle order and lower middle order, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish (Reddy), and even tailenders, Bumrah and Akash Deep contributed with the bat,” he added.

“Now, there is a weakness in the bowling, so what will you feed the team? That is the biggest question, because you can’t drop Nitish, you can’t drop Jadeja, so what will be the team combination?” he asked.

Pujara also said that since Ashwin has taken retirement, the team will not play well in Melbourne. He also added that the seamers in the team are good, but Nitish Reddy and Ravindra Jadeja are not the right players who will be able to do the work of being the team’s fourth and fifth bowlers.

“Ashwin has taken retirement, so two spinners, I don’t think they will play in Melbourne. So, how will you strengthen the bowling? Because the three seamers are very good, but their supporting role, fourth and fifth seamer, Nitesh Kumar is the fourth seamer and Ravindra Jadeja is the fifth bowler. If you add both of them together, the bowling is not that good,” he said.

“We will have to think about that, because if you want to win a Test match, then you have to take 20 wickets, and the ability to take 20 wickets is not that good, the supporting role of the other bowlers is not good, so we will have to improve that as soon as possible, and how that will be, I don’t know, but that is a big question,” he concluded.

The five-match Test series is currently levelled 1-1 due to the third match at the Gabba ending up in a draw., and the upcoming fourth Test match between India and Australia is set to begin December 26, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). This ongoing Test series is also important for both the teams as the outcome of this five-match Test series will secure their spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) finals, set to be held in England in 2025.

The post ‘Because the three seamers are…’: Cheteshwar Pujara reveals reason behind India’s weakness before Boxing Day Test appeared first on Cricket Country.

Pujara showered praise on Starc, who he believes has improved drastically since their meeting in the 2018/19 and 2020/21 Border-Gavaskar series. He also said that the left-arm quick has looked more dangerous than both Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood so far.

“He has been the best bowler for them in this series. And the way Mitchell Starc has played in the last 1-1.5 years, he has brought a lot of improvement. And he has a lot of ability,” Pujara said on Star Sports.

“If I talk about my personal experience, when he used to play in the last series in 2018 or 2021, I used to feel that if he plays against me, I will get runs. And now, when he is playing in this series, it feels like he will take wickets. So what is the difference? The difference is that his line length, his accuracy has increased a lot. He is bowling very less loose deliveries. He is playing on the stump. Every ball is hitting on the good length spot. He is getting swing. So the change he has brought in his game has made him a different player. And he is looking more dangerous than Cummins and Hazlewood,” Pujara added.

The India star also pointed out that how the Men in Blue can neutralize Starc in the upcoming Test in Melbourne. According to him, the India batters will have to play well against Starc in his opening spell and try to tire him as much as they can.

“So we will have to take care of his game, especially from the new games. In the first 5 overs, his first spell, he has taken the most wickets there. So if there is a good batting in the first 5 overs, bring him for the 2nd or 3rd spell. Because he gets tired. So the batting of the top order so far, our top order has never played in the 3rd or 4th spell. The ones who have played are the lower middle order and the tail enders. And there we saw that when Bumrah and Akash were batting, when Mitchell Starc was bowling, he was not that effective. So they will have to play their new game well,” Pujara said.

The fourth match of the Border-Gavaskar series is set to commence on Boxing Day, December 26 and will be played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

The post NOT Pat Cummins: Cheteshwar Pujara names THIS pacer as the best Australian bowler in BGT so far appeared first on Cricket Country.

“He has taken most of his wickets in his first five overs, his first spell. We need to bat well in the first five overs and make him bowl the second and third spells because he gets tired,” Pujara said on Star Sports. “When Mitchell Starc was bowling to Bumrah and Akash Deep with the old ball, he wasn’t that effective. So, play the new ball properly,” he said.

Pujara said that the Indian team did not look at Starc as a threat during the last time they toured Australia. On top of that, the batters looked at him as someone who would be a weak point and score quickly.

“He has been their best bowler thus far in this series. He has improved his bowling a lot in the last one to one-and-a-half years. If I talk about my personal experience, when he used to bowl in the last two series, we felt we could get runs. However, now it seems like when he comes to bowl, he will pick up wickets,” the 36-year-old added.

Starc has played 7 Tests at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), and has taken 25 wickets at an average of 30.16. He took four wickets during his last appearance against India, where the tourists won by 8 wickets.

The post ‘Need to bat well in…’: Cheteshwar Pujara advices Indian batters for with their struggle against Australia appeared first on Cricket Country.

However, skipper Rohit departed after just scoring 10 runs at The Gabba and continued his woeful form in the format. Australia skipper Pat Cummins was the one who took his wicket and this was the sixth time in 12 innings that he has dismissed the India skipper.

As Rohit, who batted at the No. 6 spot in the team, continued his dry run of form in red-ball cricket, a surprising act from him lit up social media. Rohit, who was understandably disappointed by his early dismissal, threw his gloves near the Indian dugout.

Following this act, many fans on social media speculated that the 37-year-old is don with Test cricket and may retire from the format soon.

Veteran India cricketer Cheteshwar Pujara analyzed Rohit’s dismissal to Cummins and said that rather than looking to drive the delivery, the India skipper should have tried to defend it.

“It wasn’t a length where you can drive. We have seen that even a fuller length ball, it’s hard to drive. He, kind of tried to punch that ball. He should have defended that ball, allowed the ball to come to him rather than going for that ball. And I think the tough part is he hasn’t been, amongst runs, and, that’s where the pressure is,” Pujara said.

The post Rohit Sharma set to retire? ‘Gloves act’ in Brisbane Test sparks MAJOR speculations appeared first on Cricket Country.

The pacer bowled a brilliant good length delivery which ended up finding the outside edge off Rohit’s bat before heading straight into the hands of wicketkeeper Alex Carey.

Analyzing Rohit’s dismissal, Pujara said that the batter should have opted to defend the ball rather than trying to drive it.

“It wasn’t a length where you can drive. We have seen that even a fuller length ball, it’s hard to drive. He, kind of tried to punch that ball. He should have defended that ball, allowed the ball to come to him rather than going for that ball. And I think the tough part is he hasn’t been, amongst runs, and, that’s where the pressure is,” Pujara said on Star Sports.

Pujara also mentioned that Rohit batting on number 6 instead of opening the innings could also be a major factor behind his decline in form.

“He has been opening the innings, now he’s batting at number 6. That is for the team, but I still feel that when you are so much used to opening the innings and when you have to wait, then you put yourself in that doubt. I mean, it doesn’t help you when you’re opening innings and you suddenly start batting at number 6. So that you don’t get that momentum either,” Pujara said.

This was the sixth time in 12 innings that Cummins had taken the wicket of Rohit. The India skipper’s wicket left India reeling on 74/5. The duo of KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja did well to steady India’s sinking ship with their 67-run partnership.

The post “He should have…”: Cheteshwar Pujara reveals MASSIVE reason behind Rohit Sharma’s poor form appeared first on Cricket Country.

In a conversation with Star Sports, Pujara shared his story about the long-standing rivalry with Warner. Pujara stated that Warner poked him when he was carrying drinks during a Test series in Australia. After that day, both of them have engaged in a lot of verbal battles throughout their career.

Pujara also spoke about their healthy rivalry and agreed that he responded to Warner poking him and engaged in a banter whenever they faced each other on the field. Pujara also pointed out one special tactic, where he would imitate the bowling action of R. Ashwin’s bowling action in order to tease Warner.

“When I wasn’t in the Playing XI in 2014-15 (Border-Gavaskar Trophy) and was carrying drinks, he came into the field and said that you look good carrying the drinks. After that, our conversation started and I reminded him every time the because he used to get dismissed by Ashwin a lot of times, so I used to just carry the drinks and do something like this *Pujara imitates the bowling action of Ashwin at this point*,” Pujara said.

“I even told the bowlers that you just show this offspinner’s action and he will get out. I wanted to play the psychological game on him. Then, I also spoke to him at short leg but I won’t elaborate on that discussion here,” he further stated.

“After that incident, whenever David Warner visited India, I was always reminding him that you get out to Ashwin a lot of times and it affected him psychologically. There were a few occasions when we were travelling together and I used to encounter David Warner. I used to have so many conversations with David Warner that he went the other side after seeing my face and didn’t appear in front of me even when we were travelling together,” Pujara concluded.

This side of @cheteshwar1 😁🤌

Pujara taking on @davidwarner31 with mind games is something you wouldn't wanna miss! 😁#AUSvINDOnStar 👉 3rd Test, Day 1, LIVE NOW! | #ToughestRivalry #BorderGavaskarTrophy #AdityaBirlaGroup #CricketLive pic.twitter.com/dCC7UitIMY

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) December 14, 2024

Warner did not have an out-of-ordinary track against Ashwin in Test cricket. Ashwin has dismissed Warner 11 times in the 32 matches they have played against each other. This has left Warner for a mere average of 21.81.

The post ‘It affected him psychologically…’ Cheteshwar Pujara speaks about the Incident from when he made Australian star’s life Difficult appeared first on Cricket Country.

1. Virat Kohli – 277 runs

The India star batter leads the charts, scoring close to 300 runs in 4 day-night Tests played so far. Kohli will be looking to improve this record even further in the upcoming day-night Test against Australia in Adelaide.

2. Rohit Sharma – 173 runs

The Indian skipper has played well for the Men in Blue in the 3 day-night Test matches he has participated in. After not featuring in the first Test of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series, Rohit will be looking to score big in the day-night Test at the Adelaide Oval.

3. Shreyas Iyer – 159 runs

Though the Indian batter has only played in a single day-night Test in his career so far, he managed to score an impressive 159 runs with a highest score of 92. Unfortunately, Iyer wasn’t able to make it to India’s squad for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series.

4. Ajinkya Rahane – 100 runs

The India batter didn’t feature in many day-night Tests and wasn’t quite impressive in the ones where he did feature as well. Rahane hasn’t been selected in the Indian squad for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series and thus won’t be participating in the day-night Test in Adelaide.

5. Cheteshwar Pujara – 98 runs

The India batter wasn’t really able to contribute well for the side in the 3 day-night Tests he participated in. Despite a stellar domestic season, Pujara wasn’t given a place in India’s squad for the ongoing Border-Gavaskar series.

The post Top 5 Indian batters with the most runs scored in day-night Tests appeared first on Cricket Country.