Former India captain Kapil Dev has voiced his support for the struggling Rohit Sharma ahead of the third Test in Brisbane, starting on December 14. Kapil Dev, the skipper of the 1983 World Cup-winning team, considers Rohit to be among the top four batters to have represented India, placing him in the same league as Virat Kohli.
Despite Rohit’s recent poor form with only 142 runs in his last six Tests (12 innings) at an average of 11.83, including just one half-century, Kapil Dev remains confident in the batsman. Rohit decided to drop himself in Adelaide to allow KL Rahul to open, but failed to perform in the middle order, managing scores of three and six in two innings.
During an event at Delhi Golf Club on December 9, Kapil Dev expressed his thoughts on Rohit Sharma:
“Like Virat Kohli, he is one of the best cricketers in our country. If you put the four top batsmen, he will be there. If he is going through a rough time, it is only up to him how fast he can bounce back.”
“He doesn’t have to prove himself. He has done this for many, many years, so let’s not doubt somebody. I won’t doubt him. I hope his form comes back, that’s important,” he added.
“Just six months back he won the T20 World Cup” – Kapil Dev defends Rohit Sharma’s captaincy
Kapil Dev also criticized those questioning Rohit Sharma’s captaincy after a series of defeats, including a 0-3 loss to New Zealand at home. He reminded everyone that Rohit led India to the T20 World Cup victory earlier in the year. He stated:
“With one or two performances, if you doubt someone’s captaincy, I mean, just six months back when he won the T20 World Cup, you wouldn’t have asked me this question. Let it go, knowing his ability and talent, he will come back. They will come back strongly.”
Rohit Sharma becomes the fourth captain, following Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni (twice), and Virat Kohli, to lose four Tests in a row.
List of Indian captains with the most consecutive Test losses:
- 6 MAK Pataudi (1967-68)
- 5 Sachin Tendulkar (1999-00)
- 4 Datta Gaekwad (1959)
- 4 MS Dhoni (2011)
- 4 MS Dhoni (2014)
- 4 Virat Kohli (2020-21)
- 4 Rohit Sharma (2024)*
Regarding Jasprit Bumrah’s captaincy in the 295-run win in Perth, Kapil Dev believes it’s too soon to judge his leadership. He mentioned:
“I think it is too early to talk about that. With one performance, you can’t say he is the best, and with one bad performance, you can’t say he doesn’t deserve it. Let a player play a lot of cricket, take on a lot of captaincy. Ups and downs will come, and then you judge a person by how he reacts in difficult times, not in good times. In good times, we don’t have to judge. When he is down and out,” he added.
Dev refrained from commenting on Harshit Rana’s inclusion for the second Test, where the bowler went wicketless conceding 86 runs. He concluded:
“I am a nobody. How can I judge? There are people up there who have the responsibility to decide who should be in the team.”
Australia won the second Test against India by 10 wickets to level the series 1-1. India will be looking to bounce back as they aim for a third consecutive Test series win in Australia.
Edited by Sankalp Srivastava
