Before the important Border-Gavaskar Trophy, former cricketer Michael Hussey expressed support for Indian stars Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, saying that you can’t underestimate great players like them. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy starts on November 22 in Perth.
Adelaide and Brisbane will hold the second and third Test matches of the series, respectively. The famous Boxing Day Test will be played in Melbourne. The final, fifth Test of the series is scheduled to take place in Sydney starting January 3.
Michael Hussey’s Confidence in Virat Kohli And Rohit Sharma
While speaking on Fox Sports, Hussey mentioned that the Australians will learn where India stands both mentally and skill-wise after the first Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. He also noted that India has many players who attract crowds.
“We will find out in the first Test match where they are at, mentally and from a skill perspective as well. They will be hurt by this, India. They have got a lot of crowd pullers and quality. We just heard from Gambhir talking about Rohit and Kohli not making runs. The silliest thing you can do is to write off champion players,” Hussey said.
He added Rohit and Virat come under criticism but they always perform.
“We have seen it so many times in the past – they come under criticism, but they come out and perform really well. So I’m backing them to perform well in Australia. They are proud Indians and proud Test players. But I still feel Australia will start favourites,” he added.
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Gautam Gambhir Responds to Ponting’s Critique
On Monday, before leaving for Australia for the BGT series, India head coach Gautam Gambhir spoke to the media about the performances of Kohli and Rohit. He called Ricky Ponting’s views on Indian cricket ‘irrelevant’ and emphasized that both players are very passionate and eager to contribute to the team.
“Not at all…Ricky Ponting should think about Australian cricket, what concerns he has for Indian cricket? Virat and Rohit are incredibly tough men. They’ve achieved a lot for Indian cricket and they will continue to achieve a lot,” Gambhir said on Monday.
“They still work really hard. They’re still passionate. They still want to achieve a lot more and that is something which is very important. The hunger in that dressing room is incredibly important for me and for the entire group of people as well in that dressing room. I feel there’s a lot of hunger, especially after what has happened in the last series,” he added.
In 2024, both Kohli and Rohit have had a tough time getting back to their best form, especially after India’s recent 0-3 series loss to New Zealand. So far this year, Rohit has scored 588 runs in 11 matches, with an average of 29.40, including two centuries and two fifties. On the other hand, Kohli has only made 250 runs in six matches (12 innings), averaging 22.72 and has scored just one half-century.
Kohli and Rohit’s performance is a big worry as India gets ready to play against Australia. India needs to win the series 4-1 to earn a place in the World Test Championship Final (WTC). How well Kohli and Rohit play will be important for India’s chances of reaching their third straight WTC final.
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