Rohit’s struggles shook Team India

Australia clinched a thrilling five Test series win over India and in the process finally regained the BorderGavaskar trophyIt was a massive performance by Australia capably led by Pat Cummins and along the way they introduced some new blood to the side Australia made progress but for India the series confirmed the concerns surrounding two stalwartsAfter a slow start to the series for Cummins and Australia the skipper became the hero He has regularly inspired the team and once again Cummins performed the star rolePat delivers when neededCummins took 25 wickets for the series and when Australia needed a wicket he was the man for the job If they needed a good player in the opposition dismissed Cummins was best suited to the task To cap off a monumental series Cummins provided important runs at times when they were badly neededAnyone who isnrsquot convinced Cummins is a capable captain and headed for the Hall of Fame when he qualifies hasnrsquot been watching closelyAdding to his lustre as a leader Cummins claimed a 31 series victory after losing the first Test badly It was a personal triumph as much as a team effortAs long as Cummins is leading the side and the bowling attack Australia will be hard to beat especially in home conditionsImportantly Australia debuted young Sam Konstas as an opener and an experienced cricketer in allrounder Beau WebsterWhile Konstasrsquo T20 style opening onslaught saw Australia unsettle Jasprit Bumrah in the first innings at the MCG his method is questionable for the long haulKonstasrsquo youthful exuberance both with the bat and in the field needs to be tempered if he hopes to have a long successful Test careerWebster made a good start and proved he has potential as a number six batsman His bowling will mostly rely on resting the leading pace men but hersquos a sure handed catcher which counts in his favourAustraliarsquos winning form in the last few years has been greatly dependant on a strong bowling attack There are some capable pace bowlers on the horizon and as long as Cummins remains at his peak Australia will be in reasonable shapeDespite some Sri Lankan tour selections made with an eye on the future the batting and spin bowling options are still in question Australia badly need to unearth a solid opening candidate and a good middleorder player While Steve Smith remains the best batsman in the side Australiarsquos totals will be okay but any prospective replacements need to establish their credentialsFor India the two big question marks are leading batsmen and the selectors have tough decisions to make regarding Rohit Sharma and Virat KohliThe soon to be 38yearold Rohit facing a crammed fiveTest series against England in a few months is a doubtful quantity Although India are extremely reluctant to part with star players lately Rohit has struggled technically and his absence would provide uncertainty over the opening position and the captaincyOutstanding BumrahKL Rahul is a decent opening alternative but the captaincy provides a bigger headache whenever Jasprit Bumrah is unavailable Bumrah showed in Australia hersquos an outstanding bowler and a decent skipper but he needs support in both categories if India are to remain a forceKohlirsquos experience in the UK would be invaluable and of the two problematic players hersquos the most likely to be resuscitated However his consistency needs to improve in addition to dispensing valuable advice to younger players He also has to stop his senseless antics like shouldering Konstas in the MCG Test If Kohli does decide to retire from Test cricket the loss of both he and Rohit would leave a huge gap in the lineup for a tough tourBoth Australia World Test Championship final against South Africa and India play UK Tests in 2025 They should be fascinating contests but in the meantime each teamrsquos Test selectors face some challenging decisions