A series of poor performances by top Indian players has been a point of discussion ever since the men in blue lost 1-3 against Australia in the Border Gavaskar trophy series 2024-25. The team was over dependent on Jasprit Bumrah and had an inconsistent batting throughout. Questions are also being raised on Indian cricket team’s Head coach Gautam Gambhir and the support staff. India’s upcoming schedule is the Champions trophy and the five-match test series against England. Tough decisions might come from BCCI before these.
India couldn’t finish its head-trick for winning straight in the BGT series. And Australia ended a 10-year long gap to secure an outstanding win in the BGT, also securing their spot for competing against South Africa in the World test championship final.
But who proved to be the disappointment for India. Here is the list of the big flops for India in the BGT series-
Rohit Sharma
The Indian skipper was a real big disappointment with his bat. When India needed strong start by the top order, Rohit couldn’t deliver enough with his bat. Out of the five innings he played, Rohit could only produce 31 runs. The batting display did not have that spark either at an average of only 6.20. Rohit was later dropped from the fifth test.
Virat Kohli
Both Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli being the veterans of the team, couldn’t lead by an example in the BGT. Virat Kohli has an impressive record in the foreign tours, even against Australia. But this time it seemed that he was just falling in the Kangaroo bait. The balls were delivered outside off, on the fifth-sixth stump line and Kohli just collapsed to it every time. At the end of the series, Virat’s score was 190 runs at an average of 23.75 runs. He was fine in the beginning with a thrilling century at Perth, but gradually the performance turned poor with 90 runs in 8 innings at an average of 11.25.
Shubhman Gill
The youngster couldn’t prove his worth well enough in the grand BGT. Shubhman Gill had the opportunity to serve with his bat for 5 innings in which he played 3 matches. Gill could score 93 runs at a mere average of 18.60. the average balls faced was 32.60. On the surface, it was visible that Gill had his own struggles and challenges on the Australian soil.
Amidst the disappointing performances, there were some individual performances that had a park of their own. KL Rahul whom everyone was reluctant about in the start, scored 276 runs in the 10 innings he played at an average of 30.66. Even though his position was changed in the order after Rohit came in.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was the best right from the beginning till the end. In the 10 innings, he scored 391 runs at an average of 43.44. And Nitish Kumar Reddy was so impressive, he was a major asset for India who delivered every time whenever the team needed him. He scored 298 runs with the bat at an average of 37.25 in the 9 innings he played.
Akash Deep and Washington Sundar also played their part. And there has to be the special mention of Jasprit Bumrah who was just there till the end with the ball. The team over relied upon him. Bumrah bagged 32 wickets in the series at an average of 13.06 with a strike rate of 28.03. He has also been nominated for ICC player of the month (December), following his performance.
After the disappointments, the Head coach Gautam Gambhir has urged the players to participate in the domestic cricket as well. There is an immense importance of domestic cricket, especially when it comes to red-ball cricket.
BCCI will review the performances in a meeting soon. It is not that players might lose their chance but the focus stands on winning the Champions trophy. Nobody is blamed but the matter calls for a scrutiny. India also lost against New Zealand last year by 0-3, which was a first defeat at home in 12 years. Let us see what is the call of the management after the series loss against Australia too, which cost the team WTC final.