IND vs AUS: 'Skipper is a Liability' - Rohit Sharma Must Quit Test Cricket Immediately

Don't blame Rishabh Pant for 'throwing' his wicket. Don't blame technology, or not using it to the maximum as heat has been generated over Yashasvi Jaiswal's crazy dismissal after scoring runs of Bibilical proportion.

Blame the skipper Rohit Sharma for failing again with the bat. His body language is pathetic, his batting is lazy. The footwork is awry, he is not timing it well. Most important, mentally, he is not there in the game. And a point which hurts maximum, his captaincy skills have hit the nadir.

As the Aussies won the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne on Monday to take a 2-1 lead in the BGT Series, one man has to take the blame, Rohit Sharma. The skipper is a liability.

If the joke doing the rounds is Jasprit Bumrah has taken more wickets than the runs Rohit has scored in the BGT Series, it's a fact. In such a situation, Rohit needs to step down. He took a paternity break for the first Test in Perth. That turned out to be blessing in disguise.

Stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah lead with great energy. Sadly, once Rohit Sharma returned for the second Test, the rot set in. He has been an abject failure with the bat. He has not done anything to show he inspiring on the field. If people from across the border are pointing at his midriff bulge, it looks ugly.

A leader who guided India to the ICC T20 World Cup title win in June now looks a liability. He has fiddled with his own batting order, wherein he has tried to make adjustments to save his own place.

Honestly, on current form, which began from the wretched series against New Zealand in India, Rohit became a liability. To not score is one thing. How he returned to Australia, disturbed the batting order balance from top to middle is unacceptable.

Rohit has failed, the tail-enders have done better. If Rohit has any self-respect, a rare commodity in Indian cricket, he should hand over captaincy to Bumrah for the Sydney Test. That way he will still get some respect.

If Rohit needs motivation, he should recall what R.Ashwin did, packed up and left after a draw in the third Test. That is character, charisma, not wanting to be a hanger-on, Ashwin did not want to be the excess baggage in the side.

Will Rohit look at the mirror and tell himself: "My time is up." His string of failures is not an aberration, it is a nightmare script he has written himself. Why should Indian cricket and the fans suffer?

Look at the predecessors, Virat Kohli, of fishing fame outside the off-stump, made himself relevant even after he quit Test captaincy, or was eased out. He was still relevant to Indian cricket. MS Dhoni gave up captaincy abruptly, even when there was no need.

Sadly, Rohit the white-ball captain who led India to the ICC World Cup title this year and the final in 2023 in the ODI format now resembles a ghost. This is not the Rohit Sharma fans know.

There is no way he can get back to domestic cricket like Ajinkya Rahane or Cheteshwar Pujara. The BCCI may still want to be kind to Rohit and ask him to led in the Champions Trophy soon.

As far as Test cricket is concerned, Rohit is stale. He said nothing at the press conference about himself. But if later in the day or night, depending on the time zone you are in, Rohit Sharma goes, don't be surprised. Maybe, wait for the BCCI email or a social media post. Past perfect, present tense. That sums up Rohit Sharma's Test career.