\u201cThose numbers are interesting. I think you see that with the number of players. For some people the captaincy helps, for some people, it doesn't. I certainly think he'll play in Sydney. I don't think they'll drop him. I think Rohit's earned the right, and he's captain. When you're captain, you probably get a little bit more leeway as well.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cThose numbers don't read great. Don't get me wrong. But I think they'll allow Rohit to walk away on his own terms. No idea if Sydney will be his last Test. I'm not sure what he's thinking, as I'm not sure what India's got coming up, Test cricket-wise.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI'm not sure how Rohit feels captaincy-wise. I know he's just had his second child. So who knows what's going to happen there? But I would imagine he'll certainly play in Sydney,\u201d said Clarke on ESPN\u2019s Around The Wicket show.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ex-Australia batter Callum Ferguson pointed out that India have a five-match tour of England coming up in June-July this year. \u201cHuge test coming up in England. They're going to England to play a Test series there as well. So that's going to be a huge test for someone like Rohit Sharma, who's struggling with his form at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Aron Finch, Australia\u2019s former white-ball skipper, said India have looked like a different outfit ever since Rohit came back from the Adelaide Test after missing the series opener in Perth due to the birth of his second child. \u201cHe'll definitely play. I think the alarming thing for me is how well they played under Bumrah\u2019s captaincy in Perth. It looks like an unsettled lineup since he's come back in. But I mean, he's still a great player. He's a beautiful player to watch. I hope that he does get some runs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Clarke also feels Rishabh Pant will have huge regret over the second innings mistimed pull he played off Travis Head in the second innings. After Pant fell, India collapsed and were all out for 155, to lose the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne to Australia by 184 runs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI think his shot in the second innings was one that he'd probably regret even more. I think the situation of the game, they were building a partnership and batting so well together. That really was stopping Australia from winning the Test match. It\u2019s muscle memory, he just reacted. He saw it short, tried to hit it out of the park.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cBut he probably should have just tried to hit it along the ground. But again, that's the way the game goes, and when you're a big player and someone that has scored Test match hundreds and there's an expectation, if you're getting out like that, you're going to cop criticism. But there's no doubt he's a wonderful player. It's a shot selection. It's the right time, right place, that's all,\u201d he added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ferguson said Pant\u2019s mistimed pull was a result of confusion caused by playing in a restrained mode, something which isn\u2019t his natural style of play. \u201cThat was the concern, I thought. He was playing a mode that wasn't natural to him, and it was a shot that had hesitation in it, that pull shot off Travis Head.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cSo that's what happens. That's what comes into four-day and five-day cricket. In Test cricket, there's enormous pressure, and when you find yourself in those pressure situations, that's when you get that hesitation. Do I go? Do I just keep playing my natural game? Or do I need to shut it down? And that's where he found himself in confusion.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ferguson said Pant\u2019s mistimed pull was a result of confusion caused by playing in a restrained mode, something which isn\u2019t his natural style of play. \u201cThat was the concern, I thought. He was playing a mode that wasn't natural to him, and it was a shot that had hesitation in it, that pull shot off Travis Head.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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