Sanjay Manjrekar, the former Indian cricketer, said Rohit Sharma’s average was 10 in his last two Test series. Virat Kohli, though a top batsman, averaged 30 in the last five years. He said replacing them wasn’t easy. But their departure hasn’t hurt India much.
Without Rohit and Kohli, Test captain Shubman Gill led India’s batting twice, first in the Birmingham win against England and then in the Manchester draw that kept the series alive.
Jonathan Trott, the former England batsman, said England wouldn’t have managed as well if the situation was reversed.
Trott said on Sony Sports that removing someone like Joe Root or losing two experienced players like India did would change things drastically. He thinks India has shown great character, kept the series alive and it’s interesting to see the moods on the English and Indian teams’ buses heading to London.
The anchor pointed out the different situation for India and Manjrekar said Rohit and Kohli’s form was declining.
Manjrekar said Rohit Sharma averaged 10 in his last two series and Virat Kohli averaged 30 in the last five years. He said replacing them was tough.
Manjrekar said although India lost two very senior players, their actual contribution wasn’t missed much since they weren’t contributing much lately.
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After giving up a 311-run lead and losing their openers for zero in the second innings, India showed character and got a good result thanks to Gill (103 off 238), KL Rahul (90 off 230), Jadeja (107 not out off 185) and Washington (101 not out off 206).
England captain Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer got rid of Gill and Rahul in the morning. England thought they would win the series against India. But Jadeja and Washington hung in and scored runs off the bowlers later in the day.
