“They couldn’t get Ajinkya Rahane the last time” - Former Australia cricketer's blunt take on Rohit Sharma in BGT 2024-25

Former Australia spinner Kerry O'Keeffe gave a blunt take on Rohit Sharma after India's loss in the Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25. He said while Australia could not get the better of Ajinkya Rahane on the previous tour, their tactic to target Rohit worked.

He pointed out that Rohit Sharma joined a list of opposition captains that Australia had targetted successfully in recent Test series. Speaking to foxsports.com.au, he said:

“They couldn’t get Ajinkya Rahane the last time and he won the series. But if you look at the captains they’ve brought down in recent times, Sharma. Tick. Shan Masood with Pakistan. It was three-nil. Kraigg Brathwaite, it was one-all, but they were on top of Kraigg. They went to New Zealand and brought down Tim Southee, winning two-nil.”

India lost the series 3-1, going down in Adelaide, Melbourne, and Sydney, respectively. Rohit Sharma oversaw the defeats in Adelaide and Melbourne, along with a draw in Brisbane.

After failing with the bat and as skipper, Rohit opted out of the final Test and Jasprit Bumrah, who led India to victory in the Perth Test, captained the side again.

“They couldn’t bring down Bumrah. He was too good. But then the baton was passed to Rohit Sharma and they brought him down straight away, to the extent that he withdrew from the final Test. So that’s a tactic they seem to want to do if they can, if they can break the skipper and make him anonymous, it empowers them,” O'Keeffe added.

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Rohit Sharma fails with the bat in the BGT 2024-25 series

After missing the opening Perth Test, Rohit Sharma returned to the team in Adelaide. In all, he played five innings in three Tests during the BGT 2024-25 series but failed to make any impact. He aggregated just 31 runs, with a best score of 10, at 6.20.

Australia, as O'Keeffe mentioned, brought Rohit down, not allowing him to score with the bat or succeed as captain on the field. The pressure of not scoring and doing well as captain mounted on him to the extent that he had to withdraw from the final Test. His decision did India no good as they ended up losing the Sydney Test as well to concede the series 3-1.