India’s coach Gautam Gambhir has said that veteran batsmen Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli still have a future in the team if they want it, despite their disappointing performances during the Test series in Australia.
The tourists lost the fifth Test by six wickets, giving up the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade with a 3-1 series defeat.
Regular Test captain Rohit was rested for the match upon his request after poor performances in the second, third, and fourth matches, while Kohli made 17 and 6 runs in his two innings in Sydney.
Gambhir said, “I can’t talk about the future of any player, it’s up to them as well.”
“What I can say is that they still have the hunger, they still have the passion. They are tough people, and hopefully they can continue to take Indian cricket forward.
“But ultimately, whatever they plan, they will plan for the best interests of Indian cricket.”
Gambhir was hesitant to blame the Sydney defeat on stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah’s inability to bowl in the second innings due to a back complaint, although he praised the fast bowler’s performances throughout the series.
He said, “It would have been nice if he would have been there, but we still had five bowlers, and a good team is one which is not dependent on one individual.”
“We didn’t get the result, as simple as that. We lost the series.”
India managed only two centuries over the five matches, and Gambhir emphasized the need for better application in Test cricket.
“I think everything boils down to the temperament,” he said. “Everything boils down to how much you want to play those tough moments, how much you want to grind in test cricket.
“I feel that that is one issue that we need to probably look after. How can we convert those 20s, 30s, or 40s into big hundreds, not only hundreds, but big hundreds, and set the game for our bowlers?”
Gambhir dismissed Australian accusations that his players had intimidated teenage opener Sam Konstas in the last two matches of the series.
“It’s a tough sport played by tough men,” he said. “You can’t be that soft, as simple as it can get. I don’t think there was anything intimidating about it.
“I don’t think we need to make a lot of big issues about it.”
