MELBOURNE: Indian captain Rohit Sharma said on Tuesday that players of his caliber always manage to win, and he has encouraged Virat Kohli to get past his delivery issues outside the off-stump in Australia.
With an undefeated century in the first Test match in Perth, Kohli ended a lengthy run of bad form. However, he has been dismissed multiple times in the current five-match series for chasing balls that have moved away from his stumps.
Before the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, Rohit told media, “Greats of the modern era will figure out their own ways [to deal with the issue].”
Recent games have exposed Rohit’s personal batting weaknesses in the longest format. Since returning to the team for the second Test after the birth of his son, the skipper has managed scores of three, six, and ten.
Rohit stayed silent on a possible return to the opening slot, where he can be destructive, but his transfer to the middle order hasn’t done anything to boost confidence.
“We shouldn’t be concerned about that. “Who bats where?” is something we should all sort out for ourselves, in my opinion. I shouldn’t be talking about it at every news conference.
“We’ll try to do whatever it takes to make our team look good or to give us the best chance to succeed.”
India struggled to a draw in the rain-soaked third Test match in Brisbane after losing badly by 10 wickets in Adelaide after winning the first Test by 295 runs.
“I believe it’s a fair reflection at 1-1,” Rohit continued.
“Both teams have performed well in cricket, and these two Test matches will be crucial for them both.
“We want to focus on what we can accomplish here, get things right, and play well after breaking it down to Melbourne.”
After excluding seamer Mohammed Shami from the final two tests owing to a knee ailment, India added uncapped Mumbai all-rounder Tanush Kotian to the squad.
With the possibility of adding a second spinner to his lineup for Boxing Day, Rohit was evasive on Tuesday.
The curator of the Melbourne Cricket Ground stated that he anticipated the surface will provide many of opportunities for fast bowlers during the week, with temperatures projected to hit 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) on Thursday.
However, Rohit allowed a second spinner to enter.
“We will do whatever it takes to put together the best XI under these circumstances, whether that means playing an extra spinner or not,” he declared.
Ravindra Jadeja is anticipated to retain his position after off-spinning all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin announced his immediate retirement from international cricket following the third Test in Brisbane.
The alternative spin option is Washington Sundar.
With the other quicks not posing as much of a threat, India has been carried by pace leader Jasprit Bumrah, who has dominated Australia virtually alone.
If the second spin option is not selected, speedster Akash Deep, who replaced the disappointing Harshit Rana in Brisbane, is expected to return to action along with Mohammed Siraj and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Konstas will make a payment.
Coach Andrew McDonald announced on Tuesday that teenager Sam Konstas will make his Test debut in the Boxing Day Test.
After Australia’s top order struggled for runs in the first three Tests of the series, Konstas, 19, was added to the squad at Nathan McSweeney’s place.
McDonald told reporters at the MCG, “He’s calm, relaxed, knows his game is in a good place right now, and he’ll play Boxing Day.”
“We stated right away that there was no age restriction. He has demonstrated a variety of shots, the capacity to exert pressure on opponents, and the ability to seize opportunities.
The biggest stage is Boxing Day, and we’re quite excited for him. He could just as well finish that one first.
Given that bowlers, especially Indian pacer Jasprit Bumrah, have dominated the series thus far, McDonald argued that replacing McSweeney with Konstas was a calculated move.
He declared, “At this time, we want to present India with a different challenge.”
We think Nathan is capable of passing the test. We had no idea how the upper order was operating. We pushed ourselves to make that choice. Time will tell if it succeeds or fails, but we have complete faith in Sam’s ability to perform the job.
McDonald was also certain that Travis Head, who has amassed 409 runs and two hundreds in the first three Test matches, will be able to play even though he was unable to workout on Monday due to a quad issue.
Does he have any issues to resolve? “He has,” McDonald acknowledged.
“At this time, there is no cause for alarm. Has he been formally irritated? I don’t know. Although I didn’t witness the entirety of his training session there, I have a good feeling he will play.
McDonald essentially confirmed that Scott Boland would replace Josh Hazlewood in the pace attack, but he also stated that skipper Pat Cummins would announce the remaining Australian lineup for the game on Wednesday.
He said, “If Scotty isn’t in the 11 on Boxing Day, I don’t think I’m going to the ground.”
