"All 4 pillars have not done anything of note" - Aakash Chopra on India's batting issues in BGT 2024-25

Aakash Chopra has noted that India's expected batting mainstays in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 let them down. He pointed out that Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Rishabh Pant didn't make many significant contributions between them.

Australia beat India by six wickets in the final Test of the five-match series in Sydney on Sunday, January 5. The hosts won the series 3-1 and booked their berth in the World Test Championship (WTC) final against South Africa, knocking out the visitors in the process.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted that India's key batters proved to be a letdown.

"There were four pillars for the building we were trying to build - Rohit, Kohli, Shubman and Pant because Yashasvi Jaiswal had gone for the first time, KL Rahul was dropped in the previous series and no one knew what Nitish Kumar Reddy would do. All four pillars have not done anything of note," he said.

Chopra pointed out that Kohli was found wanting apart from his second-innings century in Perth.

"If we talk about Virat Kohli, he scored a century in Perth's second innings when the score was 275/2. It seemed like King Kohli, the old avatar, was back. After that, he had one score of 36 and there was nothing else. He kept getting out the same way. It just did not work out. So many times outside off," Chopra observed.

Virat Kohli aggregated 190 runs at an average of 23.75 in nine innings in BGT 2024-25. All eight of his dismissals were to catches behind the stumps.

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"That's not enough" - Aakash Chopra on Rohit Sharma's performances

Rohit Sharma aggregated 31 runs at an average of 6.20 in five innings in BGT 2024-25. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that Rohit Sharma endured a dismal run with the bat.

"Rohit Sharma, who played five knocks, scored 31 runs in total. That's not enough. You even opened two innings in that. When you went up, not only the batting order, but the entire team had to be changed. So that did not work at all," he said.

The former India opener criticized Shubman Gill for the shots he played for his dismissals in the Sydney Test.

"Shubman Gill was looking decent when he was playing and then you dropped him. Then the two shots he played in the last match, it's unbecoming of him. We all thought this would be the watershed event of his career," Chopra observed.

Chopra added that Rishabh Pant did not live up to expectations apart from his two innings in Sydney.

"If you leave the last match, you will have to include Pant as well as there were a lot of expectations from him. Rishabh Pant's performance in the last match was incredible for sure, he scored more than 100 runs, including both innings, but the four pillars haven't really managed anything," he stated.

Aakash Chopra noted that KL Rahul's contributions also fizzled out as the series progressed. The Karnataka batter aggregated 276 runs at an average of 30.67 in 10 innings.