Rohit Sharma equals Dhoni, Kohli in unwanted captaincy record, tasked with avoiding Tendulkar's streak in Brisbane
Rohit Sharma tied an unwanted record with the loss at the Adelaide Oval, joining a small list of Indian captains with 4 consecutive Test losses.
Rohit Sharma’s struggle not just as a Test batter but also as a Test captain continued, as his return to the Indian setup coincided with the loss at the Adelaide Oval in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. There has been severe questioning of Rohit’s tactics and decisions as a Test match captain, especially following the 3-0 home whitewash loss to New Zealand, and a fourth consecutive loss as captain puts him in an unwanted list of Indian captains with four Test losses on the trot.
Rohit joins Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni as captains with four consecutive Test losses, while Sachin Tendulkar and Mansour Ali Khan Pataudi are the two players who have had more. While India managed to win the first game of the BGT under the captaincy of Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit’s losses split across five matches for India continues to put pressure on the out-of-sorts batter.
Kohli suffered four losses as captain back in 2020-21, when he began the year by losing both Tests away against New Zealand, before overseeing the infamous loss in Adelaide that year. He would depart and not participate in the rest of India’s famous comeback victory, but his next match as captain would be another loss, as England won the first match of their tour in Chennai, before Kohli managed to bounce back with a strong captaincy performance in 2021.
Rohit in danger of getting close to the unwanted record?
MS Dhoni lost four Tests in a row twice in his career, first in 2011 during India’s horror tour of England, followed once again in 2014 in the lead up to his decision to retire from Test cricket later that year and hand over the reins to a young Kohli.
One of India’s first captains in Datta Gaekwad also lost four Tests in a row all the way back in 1959, when India was still finding its feet as a cricket nation. Sachin Tendulkar in his brief stint as Test captain following the resignation of Mohammed Azharuddin lost 5 Tests in a row in 1999-2000, first three losses on the tour to Australia, followed by a 2-0 series whitewash at home against South Africa, before he too resigned from captaincy and made way for Sourav Ganguly.
Nonetheless, the record stands with ‘Tiger’ Pataudi, who lost 6 Tests in a row in 1967-68, getting whitewashed on tours of first England then Australia in a difficult schedule for the team in that era. Indian fans will hope that Rohit doesn't come any closer to this number, in desparate need of a positive result at the Gabba in the third Test.
Recommended Topics 