AUS-A vs IND-A 2024: India's batting woes continue ahead of BGT 2024-25

India captain Rohit Sharma is expected to miss the first Test against Australia in Perth due to personal reasons. Abhimanyu Easwaran is touted to replace him in the middle, but the Bengal opener had a horrible Down Under. In the first unofficial Test against Australia A, the 29-year-old scored 7 and 12 runs respectively, while in the second, he made a duck and 17 runs in two innings.

KL Rahul was also tried at the top of the order in the second game. The 32-year-old played a couple of important knocks against South Africa and Bangladesh and following which, India captain Rohit also assured that his place is secured in red-ball cricket. However, with Sarfaraz firing in the middle order, Rahul was eventually dropped.

Here's the video of Rahul's dismissal:

He was given an opportunity as an opener to prove his value and replace Rohit in Perth, but the Bengaluru-born failed to make a mark, scoring four and ten respectively. That can give a massive headache to the Indian team management, which is already under immense pressure following a humiliating 3-0 series defeat to New Zealand.

Since the Bangladesh series, nothing has gone in favour of India and the role of the batters has been under the scanner. Senior batters Rohit and Virat Kohli’s form is also heavily concerning, having scored only 91 and 93 runs respectively in the last series against New Zealand.

Meanwhile, for India to qualify for the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final, they need to guarantee a 4–0 series win over Australia, which looks bleak at the moment, given the form of the majority of the batters. The likes of Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Sarafaraz Khan have done well, but consistency is a major issue.

Other visiting batters flopped as well. In the second innings, Sai Sudharsan made three, captain Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 11, while Devdutt Padikkal scored just one run. The Indian team is expected to start training on November 11 and during which, the team management is expected to take a call between Easwaran and Rahul for the opener’s role in case Rohit is unavailable.