Former India coach Ravi Shastri advises Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to return to domestic cricket to rediscover form

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma both struggled for runs in test cricket in 2024.

Experienced batting duo Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have come under criticism after their poor performances in test cricket in 2024. It was a forgettable year for the veterans as they faced a whitewash series defeat against New Zealand amid their struggling form.

Kohli ended the year with 417 runs in 19 innings at an average of 24, including one century, while Rohit scored 619 runs in 26 innings at an average of 24, with two test tons.

With India not qualifying for the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 final, speculation has grown about whether the senior duo should continue playing test cricket for the next cycle or not. Youngsters like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Washington Sundar have shown early promise, fueling the debate about whether it’s time for the younger generation to take over.

Former India all-rounder Ravi Shastri has shared his views on the test form of the veteran batters. Shastri has advised them to play domestic cricket in order to rediscover their red-ball form.

Ravi Shastri on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma

Speaking on the ICC Review, former India coach Ravi Shastri stressed the importance of fitness above everything else. He noted that the performances of Kohli and Rohit in the upcoming white-ball games would provide a clear indication if they can regain form in test cricket.

“I think fitness is very important, that’s more important than anything else. There’s no substitute for experience. But for me, current form and fitness are very important as well. So the next six months, I know there’s a lot of one-day cricket, but when there’s an experienced player playing, just seeing the way he’s batting, you get a fair idea if we can jump on to that test cricket bandwagon straightaway.“

Shastri further added that the veterans should return to domestic cricket after the IPL break to work on their game.

Shastri said, “I’ll be watching very closely all the one-day games that are played, the Champions Trophy that is played, a little bit of the IPL as well. And if possible, if there’s a gap for them, I think they should go back and play some domestic cricket and see how it is, because when you play test cricket for that length of time, it’s important to play domestic cricket.“

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