Former Australian captain has weighed in on Rohit Sharma’s retirement from test cricket, sharing his thoughts on the leadership void it leaves in the Indian dressing room. While Sharma dropped himself from the squad in the final Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at Sydney. Clarke believes that India will sorely miss the technical edge and experience that Rohit brought to the team, especially in their upcoming five-match Test series against England.
“He is a player that any team would miss.” stated Clarke
The news of Rohit Sharma’s retirement came as a surprise to many, especially, given the former captain had expressed his intent to continue playing red-ball cricket after a below par performance with the bat in Australia. Sharma even turned up in a Ranji Trophy match for Mumbai that underlined his intentions of continuing in the format.
Clarke also highlighted how ‘Rohit-the captain’ and his technical acumen will be missed
“Tactically as a captain he will be very hard to replace. He read the game exceptionally well.”
While the India A and the main Test squad announcements loom, the focus now shifts over to who makes the cut. Among the bowlers, Clarke opined that Kuldeep Yadav is a must have in the squad and was unequivocal in his support, stating that the left arm spinner will be India’s trump card in the series against England.
“If Kuldeep plays I honestly believe he can be the difference between the two teams. He is bowling that well.”
While we wait for the squad announcements, it is clear that without Rohit Sharma in the dressing room, uncertainties over Virat Kohli’s participation in the series and Jasprit Bumrah’s workload management—India will go in with a fairly young squad in treacherous England conditions.
Also Read: Michael Clarke on Virat Kohli: I believe Virat still has a lot of Test runs in him