“Can’t Play 50 Balls’ – Aakash Chopra Blamed Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli For Adelaide Test Loss
Senior Indian batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been receiving criticism from all the corners after they failed to score runs yet again during the Adelaide Test match against the Australian cricket team. From cricket pundits to commentators and fans, Rohit and Virat have been receiving criticism for their struggling form.
Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli Face Criticism for Poor Form
Among many, former Indian cricketer turned commentator Aakash Chopra also lashed out at the Indian Test captain, Rohit Sharma and senior batter Virat Kohli. He feels that the batting failure of these two senior players was the main reason behind the humiliating 10-wicket defeat of the Indian cricket team in the second Test match of the ongoing 5-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
For the unversed, the Indian batters looked miserable in the pink-ball Test match against Australians, as they were seen struggling to score runs. In the first innings of the second Test match, the Rohit Sharma-led Indian cricket team was bowled out for just 180 runs in 44.1 overs.
Openers KL Rahul and Shubman Gill contributed with 37 and 31 runs, respectively. With only 42 runs under his name, Nitish Kumar Reddy was the top-scorer for the Men in Blue. The Indian batters didn’t learn from their mistakes and came up with even more disappointing outing during the second innings of the match.
During the second innings of the Adelaide Test match, the Indian side was bowled out for 175 runs, setting up a target of 19 runs for the Australians. Nitish Kumar Reddy once again turned out to be the top-scorer for the side with 42 runs in his bag, while Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill contributed 28 runs each.
The batting line-up failed miserably, not once but twice.
Later, speaking in a video shared on his official YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra slammed the Indian batters for not being able to score even 50 balls in the second innings. Aakash Chopra said:
“Where did we go wrong? It’s a big question. The truth is that it was a batting failure, not once but twice. The decision to bat first was absolutely right. In the first innings when you got out for 180, you could have said that it happens. However, in the second innings, the pitch had become flat.”
He added:
“There was some help in the first innings for sure. If you are not going to bat 80 overs across two innings in a Test match, that is the problem. There is not one person in the team who said he would play 80-100 balls. Not a single player played 50 balls. We are talking about 50 runs but no one played 50 balls.”
Furthermore, Aakash Chopra highlighted that the inability of the batters to play longer innings was the reason that the Indian cricket team failed in the second Test match. He added that the Australian bowlers exposed the Indian batters, and things went south for the Indian side. He said:
“In the end, the Indian batting frailties were exposed once again. When wickets fall with the new ball, Virat Kohli is at No. 4, you are expecting a lot from Rishabh Pant but he hasn’t played a big knock so far in this series, and Rohit Sharma at No. 6, it’s not looking good. Our batting has let us down. That is the one big reason for India’s loss at Adelaide,” Aakash Chopra said.