New Delhi: Indian cricketing stars Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal and others faltered at low scores in their much-anticipated return to their Ranji Trophy sides on Thursday.
Worse, the star-studded Mumbai batting lineup stumbled again in the second innings. After a promising 50-run opening stand, Rohit and Jaiswal failed to capitalise on their good starts in the game against Jammu and Kashmir. Rohit fell for 26, while his partner Jaiswal was dismissed for 28.
The middle-order didn’t fare any better, with Shreyas Iyer getting out for 17 and Shivam Dube recording another duck, his second in the match. Mumbai skipper and India Test veteran Ajinkya Rahane fell for 16 as Mumbai slumped to 91-6 in the second session, shortly after lunch on Day 2. These significant failures have compounded to the ones from the first innings.
The lacklustre performances sparked worries among fans and selectors about the team’s preparations for the Champions Trophy starting in February and other upcoming international assignments.
The poor performances not only raised concerns about their form ahead of the Champions Trophy but also revived the debate over star batters’ recent struggles in red-ball cricket on Indian soil.
Veteran sports journalist Boria Majumdar slammed the underperforming Indian batters, likening their slump to ‘Taare Zameen Par’, or “stars are grounded”, on his YouTube channel, Revsportz.
“The truth is all our stalwarts have failed in the Ranji Trophy. We are all guilty. Including our own platform (Revsportz) to kind of hype it up that all our stalwarts will play domestic cricket and the assumption was the moment they go and play Ranji trophy, everybody will score tons of runs and get back into the national team as if domestic cricket is a piece of cake,” he said.
Majumdar took to social media platform ‘X’, earlier known as Twitter, to express his disappointment, saying “Shows it isn’t routine to turn up and score runs”.
National team stars- Rohit Gill Jaiswal fail in Ranji Trophy.
Shows it isn’t just routine to turn up and score runs.
Is Gambhir more comfortable in the white ball format as coach?
Join us 12 noon. @CricSubhayan @gargiraut15 @debasissen @shamik100 https://t.co/gt3ACva0PK
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) January 23, 2025
The Mumbai misadventure
Rohit Sharma’s much-awaited return to domestic cricket after a nearly decade-long hiatus was the marquee event of Mumbai’s ‘Elite Group A’ encounter against J&K.
However, the excitement was short-lived as Rohit, opening alongside regular international partner Yashasvi Jaiswal, was dismissed for a mere three runs, with Jaiswal faring only slightly better with five runs.
Batting first, Mumbai were cornered on the brink of collapse at 47-7, as J&K’s towering 6 ft 4 in-tall pacer Umar Nazir wreaked havoc on the Mumbai batting order. Nazir’s scalps included the crucial wickets of veteran Ajinkya Rahane (12), India international Shivam Dube (0), and, most notably, Indian captain Rohit Sharma (3).
Mumbai’s star-studded lineup also featured Shreyas Iyer, a strong contender for India’s number four spot in the upcoming Champions Trophy. Iyer’s dismissal for a modest 11 only added to India’s growing concerns, casting a shadow over their preparations for team India’s Champions Trophy campaign beginning in less than a month.
India’s first match in the Champions Trophy will be against Bangladesh on 20 February.
Pant, Gill also depart early
Returning as skipper for Punjab against Karnataka, India’s number three batter Shubman Gill got out cheaply for a meagre four runs. Karnataka dominated Punjab, dismissing them for a low score of 55.
Gill, who has long faced questions about his consistency and ability to bat outside of India in SENA countries – South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia – saw his struggles continue, highlighting a gap in his recent red-ball form, even in home conditions.
The Indian opener’s recent performances have been underwhelming, particularly against New Zealand in the home series, where he seemed troubled by spin. In the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, he failed to make a significant impact and was even dropped for the fourth Test at the MCG. Although he got another chance in the final Test in Sydney, he disappointed with a total of just 33 runs in two innings.
Wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant also joined the long list of India Test stars who produced a flop show. Representing Delhi and playing his first Ranji Trophy game since 2017, Pant managed just one run off 10 deliveries against Saurashtra as he was dismissed by left-arm spinner Dharmendrasinh Jadeja.
Pant’s performance has added to India’s worries, particularly since he is also part of the country’s Champions Trophy squad and the preceding ODI series against England.
Virat Kohli is expected to be part of Delhi’s next Ranji Trophy fixture when they face Railways later this month, starting January 30.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) emphasis on domestic cricket as a yardstick for international selection has only amplified concerns over the Indian stars’ failure to make a mark in the Ranji Trophy.
The BCCI made it mandatory for the centrally contracted players to participate in domestic tournaments when not part of international matches.
India’s batting woes continue
These underwhelming performances come at a time when Indian batters have been struggling over the past few months. The team suffered a 3-0 whitewash at home against New Zealand and failed to regain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia, losing 3-1. These setbacks have only added to India’s growing red-ball concerns.
Skipper Rohit Sharma’s Test form has been a major concern of late, with the Indian opener struggling to make an impact in the longest format. His dismal performances in the last three series have raised eyebrows, and the numbers make for grim reading.
A closer look at his scores reveals a worrying trend. Against Bangladesh, he managed just 42 runs in four innings, with scores of 6, 5, 23 and 8.
The New Zealand series was slightly better, but still underwhelming, as he scored 91 runs in six innings, with a highest score of 52. The Australia series was a disaster, with Rohit scoring just 31 runs in five innings, with a highest score of 10. Even in a domestic match against Jammu and Kashmir, he managed just three runs.
The struggles were evident even when he led the team, and in a surprising move, Rohit dropped himself from the playing XI for the final Test in Sydney, despite being the captain. Overall, Rohit has scored a mere 167 runs in 16 innings, averaging a below-par 10.43.
On the other hand, Umar Nazir’s impressive performance also highlighted India’s long-standing vulnerability against taller pace bowlers.
This weakness was also exposed earlier in 2024. Making his debut on Indian soil, the 6 ft 4 in Black Caps pacer William O’Rourke broke through the Indian lineup in the first Test in Bengaluru.
Although he fell short of a five-wicket haul, O’Rourke made significant inroads into the Indian batting order on a pitch conducive to fast bowling, claiming the prized scalps of Virat Kohli, K.L. Rahul, and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
This vulnerability to tall pace bowlers has been a recurring theme for India, with bowlers possessing high release points often extracting extra bounce from the pitch to devastating effect.
Notably, New Zealand’s Kyle Jamieson had showcased the benefits of a tall bowler’s natural advantage in helpful conditions during the 2021 World Test Championship final at Southampton, where his figures of 7/61 highlighted the challenges Indian batters face against pace bowlers with a high release point.
After a disappointing home whitewash to New Zealand, the team’s batting numbers in the recent Border Gavaskar Trophy were just as alarming. In nine innings across five matches, India’s scores were: 150, 487, 180, 175, 260, 369, 155, 185 and 157. Worryingly, six of these innings failed to surpass the 200-run mark.
The average innings score for India was 235, significantly lower than Australia’s 271. This disparity in batting performance is a clear indicator of why the series result swung in Australia’s favour.
In the triumphant series of 2018-19 and 2020-21, Indian batsmen notched an impressive 13 fifty-plus scores from fewer innings (8). In the 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the team managed only 9 fifty-plus scores in nine innings, indicating a significant decline in batting consistency and performance.
Indian batting star Virat Kohli’s performance in the recent Test series hasn’t been the best as well. After scoring a century in the first innings of the first Test in Perth, Kohli managed only 90 runs in his next eight innings, averaging a mere 11.25. His overall series tally was 190 runs at an average of 23.75.
Alarmingly, this average is lower than Australian bowlers Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon, as well as India’s medium pacer Akash Deep, starkly highlighting the struggles of India’s star batters in recent red-ball cricket.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
Such a shame!
What right do these players have to represent the nation? There are many Ranji players with outstanding performances over the last two-three seasons. These players deserve a chance to prove themselves in the international level.
Rohit does not have a future in Test matches. The sooner he realizes this the better.
And Virat must prove himself forst in Ranji. Only after that should he be selected for rhe national team.
Gill is past his prime. He just does not have the hunger to succeed.
Nitish Reddy has been exposed as an one trick pony. His technique and temperament is suited for T20s and not Test matches.
Rohit should reture at the earliest. The sooner the better.