India’s focus shifts to BGT following 3-0 Test series loss to New Zealand at home

NEW DELHI: Following the 3-0 loss to New Zealand in the Test series at home, India skipper Rohit Sharma said that the poor form of batters is a cause of concern for the national side ahead of the most awaited Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 against Australia which is set to begin later this month.

The Border-Gavaskar series between India and Australia will begin on November 22, with the first Test at Perth. Rohit knows he must lift his output in Australia after he managed just 91 runs across three matches against New Zealand, while the India skipper is also looking for fellow veteran Virat Kohli to find his best form Down Under.

Kohli managed a decent score of 70 in the second innings of the first Test against the Kiwis in Bengaluru but failed to make it into double figures in four of his other five hits during the series.

“It’s a cause of concern without a doubt. If the batters are not performing, that is a cause of concern. But what’s done is done now. I think as a player, as a captain, as a team, we all have to look forward and see how we can correct what we didn’t manage to achieve here. There is a good opportunity for us to go and do something special in Australia”, Rohit said of the lack of runs from himself and Kohli as quoted by the ICC official website.

Rohit Sharma’s side suffered a massive blow in their quest for a third consecutive appearance in the World Test Championship Final when they fell to a 3-0 series whitewash at the hands of New Zealand and now must win at least four matches in Australia to qualify for the one-off Test at Lord’s next year.

India were scheduled to take on India A in a three-day practice match ahead of the first Test in Perth from 22 November, but Rohit confirmed the team have since cancelled that contest in favour of match simulation against the same side that will allow their batters to maximise their time in the middle and get used to the conditions in Australia.

“Look, you know, rather than practice match, we planned a very match simulation kind of a thing with India A. I think sometimes when you play that practice match, we’re travelling with a squad of 19 players and it was only three days that were allotted to us. And I don’t know how much workload we can get done in those three days in terms of getting everyone prepared”, the opener said.

“We want to maximise this three-day slot that we’ve got and I feel this is the best way to do it where the batters can have a lot of time in the middle and the bowlers at the same time can get their workload in terms of getting the number of balls bowled in the middle. So that was the idea and we will be. I think we’ll be training at WACA, which is as close to Optus (Stadium) where you have that bounce and carry. So hopefully we can use those three days perfectly and maximise how much ever we can from our point of view”, the right-hand batter added.

The second Test, scheduled for December 6 to 10 at Adelaide Oval, will feature the exciting day-night format under the stadium’s lights. After that, fans will turn their attention to The Gabba in Brisbane for the third Test, which will be held from December 14 to 18.

The customary Boxing Day Test, set for December 26 to 30 at Melbourne’s storied Melbourne Cricket Ground, will bring the series to its penultimate stage. The fifth and final Test, to take place at the Sydney Cricket Ground from January 3 to 7, will serve as the series climax, promising a dramatic conclusion to an exciting contest.

India Test squad to face Australia: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar. (ANI)