Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra claimed that Rohit Sharma's Test career isn't as glorious as Virat Kohli's. Recently, Hitman has been under the radar since his sub-par performance in the just-concluded 2024-25 Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) between India and Australia, where India lost 1-3 to the hosts. He ended with scores of 3, 6, 10, 3 and 9 whereas his average was a woeful 24.76 in whites in 2024. Chopra has compared Rohit's Test run with Kohli and analysed the current Indian captain's Test numbers in depth.
'Virat has played 123 Tests and Rohit has played only 67'
On his YouTube channel, Chopra said, "His (Rohit) Test career is not as glorious as Virat's because Virat has played 123 Tests and he has played only 67. He has been a bit of a late bloomer. He has scored 4,301 runs at an average of 40.57 in 116 innings in those 67 games. Kohli's average, despite going down, is around 47."
Analysing Rohit's Test numbers since 2020, Chopra noted, "Let's start from 1st January 2020 till the end of 2024, which means the last five years. He has played 35 matches, Kohli played 39 matches and 69 innings, and he has played 63 innings. He has scored 2,160 runs at an average of 36, which includes six centuries. He didn't play in 2020. In 2021, he played 11 matches, 21 innings, and scored 906 runs at an average of 47.68 with two centuries. Not bad. If you go at an average of nearly 48, thumbs up, it will be considered a good year. So Rohit Sharma 100 per cent pass in 2021."
"He played only two matches in 2022. It's been a problem with him that he has been injured a lot. He has never played an entire series in Australia. In 2022, he scored 90 runs at an average of 30 in three innings. Since it's only two matches, it's too small a sample size to say that the year wasn't good," the former cricketer further opined.
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'Rohit's 2024 second half was so ordinary that people have written obituaries'
Chopra added, "He played eight matches in 2023 and scored 545 runs at an average of 41.92 in 13 innings in which he scored two centuries again. So 2023 was not a bad year. An average of nearly 42, you will have to say that it was okay. 2024 hasn't been a good year. The first half was okay but the second half was extremely ordinary and it has become so ordinary that people have written obituaries. He scored 400 runs in the five-match series against England and that is why he has an average of 24 in 2024. He scored 619 in 14 matches. He struck two centuries here also."
Under Kohli's captaincy, Rohit's Test career saw a flourish when he was promoted as an opener. Since his promotion as an opening batter, the 37-year-old slammed nine centuries, taking his tally to 12. All of his dozen tons have come in winning causes, however, Hitman's form has taken a huge dip in recent months. His woes against seamers and limited footwork have been exposed time and again, and subsequently, he is facing the heat to retire from Tests.