'His Test career is not as glorious as Virat's' - Aakash Chopra compares Rohit Sharma to fellow teammate

The form of Rohit Sharma in Tests has been the talking point in the Indian cricket circuit, where the skipper has had an ordinary season with the bat in the longest format. Retirement rumours and criticism surrounded his performance in 2024 where he averaged only 24.76.

The Border Gavaskar series was another unforgettable series for the India captain, where in the three matches he scored 31 runs and recorded an abysmal average of just 6.20. Meanwhile, former India cricketer Aakash Chopra appeared on his YouTube channel to draw comparisons of Rohit Sharma to fellow batter Virat Kohli. Opining on the career graphs of the senior duo, Chopra reckoned that Rohit's Tests records are nowhere close to that of Virat.

“His Test career is not as glorious as Virat's because Virat has played 123 Tests, and he has played only 67. He has been a bit of a late bloomer. He has scored 4301 runs at an average of 40.57 in 116 innings in those 67 games. Kohli's average, despite going down, is around 47," Chopra said.

“Let's start from 1st January 2020 till the end of 2024, which means the last five years. He has played 35 matches, Kohli played 39 matches and 69 innings, and he has played 63 innings. He has scored 2160 runs at an average of 36, which includes six centuries," he further added.

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First half of 2024 was still okay for Rohit: Chopra

Furthermore, the Agra-born went on to give a detailed analysis of Rohit's career, highlighting on his performances over the last five years to support his opinion.

“He didn't play in 2020. In 2021, he played 11 matches, 21 innings, and scored 906 runs at an average of 47.68 with two centuries. Not bad. If you go at an average of nearly 48, thumbs up, it will be considered a good year. So Rohit Sharma 100 percent pass in 2021, He played only two matches in 2022. It's been a problem with him that he has been injured a lot. He has never played an entire series in Australia. In 2022, he scored 90 runs at an average of 30 in three innings. Since it's only two matches, it's too small a sample size to say that the year wasn't good," the former India opener said.

“He played eight matches in 2023 and scored 545 runs at an average of 41.92 in 13 innings in which he scored two centuries again. So 2023 was not a bad year. An average of nearly 42, you will have to say that it was okay, 2024 hasn't been a good year. The first half was okay, but the second half was extremely ordinary, and it has become so ordinary that people have written obituaries. He scored 400 runs in the five-match series against England and that is why he has an average of 24 in 2024. He scored 619 in 14 matches. He also struck two centuries here," the cricketer-turned commentator concluded on the matter.