Sourav Ganguly bats for Rohit Sharma’s inclusion for Australia Test series

He has spoken in favour of Rohit Sharma’s inclusion in Tests time and again. And after the dashing right-hander has excelled in the limited-over format, former India captain Sourav Ganguly has reiterated his opinion of bringing the former back into the longer version, especially for the upcoming tour of Australia. Rohit is in great form at the moment, hitting two unbeaten hundreds in the last three ODIs and also did a decent bit as captain by leading India to lift their seventh Asia Cup title in Dubai.

Rohit has three double centuries in ODIs and also has three centuries in T20Is. He also had a great start to his Test career in 2013 by slamming two consecutive hundreds on debut against the Windies but could not continue with the momentum subsequently. After playing 25 Tests, Rohit has 1,479 runs at an ordinary average of below 40. He has three hundreds in Tests which means he could manage just one three-figure score in his last 23 matches and that too, against a weak Sri Lanka at home last year.

Rohit has matured in last two years, says Ganguly

Ganguly, however, still sees hope in Rohit. “He has gained confidence in his game with time. In captaincy too, he has proved his mettle. This is the time for the selectors to take Rohit along on the Australian tour for the Test series. He has matured a lot in last two years,” the former southpaw told India TV.

Rohit made a comeback to the Test team last year when he replaced Karun Nair for the tour of Lanka but played his first Test in more than a year in the home series against the islanders later last year. He scored 217 runs in two Tests at an average of 217 and was also picked ahead of vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane in the away series against South Africa early this year. But Rohit failed to capitalise on the opportunity and failed to score even a half-century in the first two Tests before getting dropped.

The selectors have ignored the batsman consistently since then. He was not picked for the one-off Test against Afghanistan at home in June and then the long Test series against England even though Rohit was in good nick in the limited-over series prior to the longer format. He has been ignored even for Duleep Trophy and India ‘A’ squads in recent times, which gives a clear indication that the selectors have chosen to move on.

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