'If you don’t score a fifty in 14 matches, questions will be raised' - Kapil Dev on Rohit Sharma's prolonged rough patch

The Indian skipper Rohit Sharma hasn’t been in the best of forms of late and legendary cricketer Kapil Dev questioned the right-hander for not being able to live up to his reputation. Rohit captained the Mumbai Indians in IPL 2022 and in 14 innings at the top of the order, he could manage just 268 runs at an average of 19.14 and a strike rate of 120.17 and could not score a single fifty in the campaign.

Rohit was also rested for the recent five-match T20I series against South Africa but will be back for the one-off Test against England. His form coming into the Test has been quite a worry for the management and he scored just 25 in the first innings of the four-day practice game against Leicestershire. Although he was brilliant last time when he toured England, the same doesn’t seem to be the case now.

Only Rohit Sharma can answer what’s happening: Kapil Dev

The former World Cup-winning captain noted the difficulty in finding out the reason for the players to be rested and felt that questions are bound to be raised for any great player if they fail to score for a long time. He wondered if the amount of cricket has just got to the saturation point and felt that only Rohit has the answer to the concerns over his form.

“It’s hard to know today who has been rested or asked to be rested. Only selectors will know about this. The player (Rohit) is brilliant, no question about that. But if you don’t score a fifty in 14 matches, questions will be raised, be it Gary Sobers, Don Bradman, Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar or Viv Richards. Only Rohit can answer that what’s happening. Is it too much (cricket) or has he stopped enjoying it?” Kapil said on Uncut.

He stressed the significance of enjoying the game whether it is Kohli or Rohit and noted that the chances might start to go down once the poor form continues. He added that they might not return to the side if they are dropped and admitted that he doesn’t understand the reason behind their rest when they are out of form.

“Players like Rohit and Virat (Kohli) should enjoy the game. How they feel is very important (for their performances).”

“You have to score runs (to get back in form). You cannot go too far based on reputation alone. Eventually, the opportunities will get dried up. How many chances would you need after 14 games? Can’t understand why they’re rested. If dropped, where they will get a chance to play then? It’s quite difficult to see how they play now,” he added.