"Very difficult to comment" - Former India captain makes huge statement on Rohit Sharma's future ahead of Day 5 of BGT 2024-25 4th Test

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly was unsure of Rohit Sharma's future in international cricket amid a dismal Border-Gavaskar series in Australia, both as a batter and as a captain. The right-handed batter has looked out of form since the beginning of the home season a couple of months ago, and the pressure is mounting on him with each passing failure.

After missing the series opener in Perth, Rohit Sharma demoted himself down the order for the matches in Adelaide and Brisbane. However, he returned to the top for the Boxing Day Test in a bid to return to form. The gambit failed as he was dismissed for single-digit scores across both innings in Melbourne.

Even his captaincy has received a lot of flak. His defensive approach in general, and questionable bowling rotation, among other factors, have played a role in India's misfortunes Down Under. Several pundits like Sunil Gavaskar and Mark Waugh have remarked that Sharma must step aside if such performances continue.

Sourav Ganguly refused to speculate on Rohit's future, but claimed that he was unsure of where the skipper was 'mentally'.

"Rohit Sharma is not able to score runs. He played a loose shot in the first innings. There is a second innings here in Melbourne and two more innings in Sydney so he needs to play well. India will need Rohit to fire," Ganguly told TV9 Bangla (via Hindustan Times).

"I don't know where Rohit is mentally. It is very difficult to comment right now," Ganguly added

The former skipper also commented about Virat Kohli's inconsistent run in the Border-Gavaskar series. The ace Indian batter recorded a ton in the series opener in Perth, but his woes outside off stump persisted. With poor scores in Adelaide and Brisbane, Kohli showed some intent to survive and dug hard to score 36 runs.

"Virat Kohli is not playing badly, but just getting out. He scored a century in Perth, was set in the first innings (Melbourne) and was playing nicely," Ganguly said

India need their senior players to step up in the business end of the five-match series. With the campaign level at 1-1, and a spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final up for grabs, the stakes could not be any higher.

Rohit Sharma dismissed for 9 runs in the second innings of Boxing Day Test

The skipper had a huge role to play at the top of the order after Australia set a target of 340 on Day 5 of the Boxing Day Test. He showed discipline to leave deliveries and tried to survive the new ball phase before being dismissed by Pat Cummins in the 17th over.

The right-handed batter scored 9 runs off 40 deliveries to leave India at 25-1. The team is now placed at 30-2 as they attempt to survive the remainder of the session.