"Transition will go on": Rohit Sharma's Test exit post-BGT all but confirmed by Ex-India selector

Former India National Cricket Team selector Sandeep Patil made the massive statement ahead of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. He believes that the transition phase is approaching the Indian Test side and talks will be around Rohit Sharma and other senior players.

India National Cricket Team have come under a massive pump. This comes after they faced a massive defeat in the Test series against the New Zealand National Cricket Team. The Rohit Sharma-led side were on the receiving end of a 3-0 whitewash, and it was the first time something like this had happened at home.

As India faced the series loss, there have been several questions related to the overhaul of the team. Fingers have started pointing over two stalwarts, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, as many have started to doubt their place in the team, especially with them failing in the entire Test season.

India National Cricket Team will now be touring Australia for the five-match Test series. The series no doubt will decide the future of the Indian Test team and there have been reports which claimed that if Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli failed to perform, they would be dropped from the team.

The Australia series will be extremely important for the Indian team in the context of the ICC World Test Championship. They need to win four games as then only they will have a strong chance to make it into the final, which will take place at the Lord's in London in June next year.

They have to play against Australia in Australia, they will have to forget what happened there last time - Sandeep Patil

Sandeep Patil admitted that India will face a massive challenge going into the Test series against Australia. But he suggested Rohit Sharma and his team to forget what happened the last two tours and also don't heed much into the New Zealand series loss.

Sandeep Patil pointed out how they lost all the games before the 1983 World Cup, but they had a belief in themselves, and the same Indian team should have gone into the Australia series. Speaking to the media, he explained (as quoted by PTI):

"They have to play against Australia in Australia, they will have to forget what happened there last time. They will also have to forget what happened in this series (against New Zealand) and look forward.

"We lost all practice games before winning the World Cup, so they should remember... you have to think positively and play positively. Only then will you get a positive result. If you play defensive cricket and think of winning, it is not going to happen."

Sandeep Patil also claimed that the series loss against New Zealand was a wake-up call for the Indian team. But he stressed that the team has been playing good cricket and they will be taking so many learnings after the loss against New Zealand. He added:

"This (series loss) was like a wake-up call. It's not like our team has been playing badly. A few months back they won the T20 World Cup. There are some big players in our team, surely they will bounce back. They must have learnt so many things from this loss."

Now there is talk about Rohit Sharma - Sandeep Patil

Sandeep Patil, who was involved in the overhaul of the Indian team, removing players in Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, and a few more, further talked about the transition phase. He said that every selection panel goes through the same, and the current panel will be facing questions related to the future of Rohit Sharma and others. He added:

"When I used to play, there would be talks about transition. 'Sunil Gavaskar has retired. What will happen now?' or 'Sachin Tendulkar has retired. What will happen now?' Now there is talk about Rohit Sharma… This will go on. The transition will go on; it's part of cricket. You have to look at the future. What will happen going forward."

We have Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and so many (other) great players - Sandeep Patil

Sandeep Patil believes that India faced a shambolic loss to New Zealand because their batting didn't do well. While stressing that using the 'failed' word would send a negative message, he said the team has great players in Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and Shubman Gill and he is sure that they will address the issue. He explained:

"We lost the series (against New Zealand) because the batting didn't do well. I will not use the word 'failed' because it is negative. We just did not do well in the batting department. We have Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill and so many (other) great players. I am sure they would have got together and talked about it."

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