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IND vs AUS: Former India skipper Kapil Dev extended his support to Rohit Sharma after India’s loss to Australia at Adelaide in the 2nd Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy, saying that the 37-year-old does not have to prove anything to anyone at this stage of his career.
“He doesn’t have to prove himself. He has done this for many, many years, so let’s not doubt somebody. I won’t doubt him. I hope his form comes back, that’s important,” Kapil said during the launch of the Vishwa Samudra Open, a PGTI event set to begin at the Delhi Golf Club on Tuesday.
“With one or two performances, if you doubt someone’s captaincy, I mean, just six months back when he won the T20 World Cup, you wouldn’t have asked me this question. Let it go, knowing his ability and talent, he will come back. They will come back strongly,” he added.
Rohit hasn’t had the best of times as India’s Test skipper in recent matches with India to Australia off the back of a 0-3 whitewash against New Zealand at home.
Rohit missed the first Test vs Australia in Perth owing to the birth of his second child and Jasprit Bumrah captained India to a 295-run victory in his stead.
After returning to the side for the Adelaide Test, Rohit is still struggling for form, having scored just 3 and 6 in pink-ball Test after dropping down the batting order. India ultimately went on to lose the match by 10 wickets.
Asked if Bumrah is shaping up well to take over the reins from Rohit, Kapil said, “I think it is too early to talk about that. With one performance, you can’t say he is the best, and with one bad performance, you can’t say he doesn’t deserve it.
“Let a player play a lot of cricket, take on a lot of captaincy. Ups and downs will come, and then you judge a person by how he reacts in difficult times, not in good times. In good times, we don’t have to judge. When he is down and out…” he added.
