Indian skipper Rohit Sharma should have been allowed to finish the series against Australia

With the series on the line, India need to go full throttle and focus only on beating Australia. That should have started with Rohit Sharma continuing to captain the team, writes RAVI SHASTRI.

India need to start with telling themselves that they’ve lost a Test. They’ve not lost the series, yet. That the Border Gavaskar Trophy hasn’t gone anywhere.

India need to play to win. If I was the coach of this Indian team, in a situation like this, I’d say, I don’t care one bit about this series finishing 3-1. Go full throttle.

Only think about winning. Only focus on beating Australia. And get me the 2-2 result, and let’s take what has been ours for a decade, the Border Gavaskar Trophy, back home with us.

That should have started with Rohit Sharma playing and continuing to captain the team.

I simply don’t believe in dropping or leaving out your captain while the series is still alive.

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India must start Rohit Sharma and stick with him as captain, writes Ravi Shastri. Picture: Getty Images

Speaking of leadership, there are some reports that have been brought to my attention about what’s allegedly going on with this Indian team. I don’t read anything.

But all I’ll say is that in my time as coach, if there was any exposure of what was said within the dressing-room, the trust was gone, and you were in trouble as a player.

If you were someone who wanted to open your mouth to the press, then I’ll settle it out with you on day one. I won’t wait.

All I’ll want my players to focus on is to tactically be ready to level the series at the SCG. Put your foot on the accelerator, which might not be a bad thing for this team. When you’re not bothered about losing, it’s a great way of expressing yourselves and it might allow them to really go hell for leather.

I wanted to see Shubman Gill back in the side. You’re talking about a player who’d averaged 40 with the bat in the calendar year till that point.

I know it’s not always spun at the SCG but I will think about two spinners and play Gill for the injured Akash Deep with Nitish Reddy as your third seamer.

Shubman Gill’s return should boost India. Picture: Getty Images

As for Australia, when a team wins like they did in the last session of play, it lifts you immensely. They know it was a Test that was so far ahead that India could still fight back, and they did. But you held your nerve and pulled off a great win in the end.

For the home team, it’s about being ruthless and realise that a win here can secure a place in the World Test Championship final. That will lift the pressure of what they do and how they go in Sri Lanka. They have plenty at stake here.

It’s already been a terrific series but for me the biggest privilege has been seeing two of the greatest fast bowlers ever playing against each other. And imagining what it would have been if they both played in the same team together.

One guy I’d be wary of if I was Australia, is Virat Kohli. I saw a lot of positives in the way he went in Melbourne. I saw enough to suggest that there’s a purple patch around the corner for Virat. He’s not done yet. Far from it.

Anyone who thinks he’s cooked, good luck. It’s your call. It could well be his final Test on Australian soil and he’ll go down as one of the best players to ever come here, and that too when Australia have played their hardest cricket.

Shastri is backing Virat Kohli to succeed in what could be his final Test on Australian soil. Picture: Getty Images

Seven hundreds in these conditions is incredible. Just compare those with the numbers for some of his peers, who’re touted to be at the same elite level, have managed in Australia.

I know for a fact that playing and doing well in Australia has meant a lot to Virat. And he’ll be hoping to leave these shores with a big one to cap it off.

Sydney has always had a problem with rain affecting the amount of cricket here. But I’ve always had a special relationship with this iconic venue. I was the first-ever Indian to get a double-hundred here, and the only opener to do so. And then to be the coach when India officially won their first-ever Test series in Australia at this ground in 2019, after 71 years of coming here.

I’m a proud honorary life member at the SCG. I’ve got my brown book, which is fantastic. I love this country, and the city, and I know I can always come here and watch Test cricket from the members’, and that too with a pint of beer in my hands.

Originally published as Indian skipper Rohit Sharma should have been allowed to finish the series against Australia