Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25: Rohit Sharma is likely to miss Perth Test. Who will partner Yashasvi Jaiswal in his absence?
Rohit Sharma might miss the first Test at Perth against Australia Down Under due to personal reasons. Who will captain India in his absence? Will India replace him with another specialist opener? Or, will India make a stop-gap arrangement until Rohit returns for the next Test?
India will definitely miss Rohit’s leadership in the Perth Test if the star player is not in the XI for the match. Rohit is not only respected for his selfless batting and putting the team’s cause ahead of personal glory, but also his unique style of captaining where he keeps things simple and effective.
After leading India successfully in 2024 World T20 campaign, Rohit’s stature as captain has seen phenomenal rise. He motivated his teammates to score quickly in the Kanpur Test against Bangladesh to force a win, and his teammates responded to the captain’s call to seal a 2-0 series win.
Earlier, Rohit overturned a 0-1 deficit to seal a 4-1 Test series win over England at home. He has also tied a Test series in South Africa 1-1, and won a Test series 1-0 in the West Indies. However, the only blot in his Test captaincy career is the 2023 World Test Championship final loss to Australia.
But it was early days in Rohit’s Test captaincy tenure. He has improved as a Test skipper and is also leading from the front with the bat. Overall, Rohit has captained India in 18 Tests, winning 12, losing 4, and drawing 2.
So, who will replace Rohit if he misses the Perth Test?
Selectors have given an indication that it will be Jasprit Bumrah who is likely to captain in the Perth Test after they named the bowler as the vice-captain for the three-match Test series against New Zealand at home. Bumrah has also been the vice captain before in a series against Sri Lanka at home in 2022 and in an away Test series against South Africa in 2023-24. Bumrah has also led India in an one-off Test against England in 2022 when Rohit was down with Covid-19.
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Specialist opener or temporary solution?
Since Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal have come together as openers, the duo has complemented each other well. Both play attacking cricket and dominate the opponents with their aggressive batting.
Bangladesh fell to the T20 style of batting in the Kanpur Test from the India openers, who raced to 50 in just 3 overs. Moreover, Rohit has turned up as a better Test player when he started opening in the longer version of the game.
Replacing Rohit won’t be easy. But India have a few specialist openers who are in form and have the technique and skills to counter the conditions Down Under.
Abhimanyu Easwaran has been in the pipeline as a reserve opener recently, and he might play his debut Test at Perth. Easwaran is coming off a successful domestic campaign in 2024, aggregating 977 runs at an average of 75.15 in 10 First Class matches, with four tons and four fifties.
Ruturaj Gaikwad is also under contention to bag the reserve opener’s spot after his impressive show in the last few seasons across formats at various levels.
However, India might as well go to another bankable option in KL Rahul. Until Rahul was assigned the No 5 spot, he used to be the designated Test opener for India.
Rahul might be asked to open the batting with Jaiswal in the Perth Test, while Sarfaraz Khan, who is in red-hot form, could bat at No 6. Rahul has opened earlier in Tests in Australia and also has a century to his name Down Under.
However, it is still not confirmed if Rohit will miss the Perth Test. India would like their leader to captain the team right from the first Test to gain the necessary momentum. Even if Rohit misses out, Bumrah has the game awareness to lead India with able support from former captain Virat Kohli to guide him on the field.
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