It might be cloudy in Brisbane but the heat is already on India skipper Rohit Sharma with a former Test great saying he is too fat for the grueling five-match series.
Sharma joined the Indian squad in Adelaide after missing the first Test in Perth, batting himself in the middle order instead of his usual post opening the batting.
His arrival in Australia has sparked controversy, following reports he had a heated confrontation with pace bowler Mohammed Shami who has not been selected in any of the three Tests in Australia – despite seam-friendly conditions.
He also opted to sit out the pre-match press conference, putting Shubman Gill up instead.
Former South African star Daryll Cullinan was regarded as the best Test batsman of his generation, and he has teed off against Sharma ahead of the Brisbane Test.
Cullinan called him ‘overweight and a flat-track bully’ who was no longer the player he was.
India skipper Rohit Sharma is under pressure after his side suffered a heavy loss in Adelaide
Former South African star Daryll Cullinan said Sharma is no longer fit enough for long Test cricket series
It remains unknown whether Sharma will open the batting or move himself down the order again, like he did in Adelaide
‘Look at Rohit, then at Virat. Notice the difference in their physical condition. Rohit is overweight, and not a long-term cricketer anymore,’ Cullinan told Insidesport.
Rohit is not in a good physical condition for the hard grind of a four or a five-match Test series.’
‘I will say it again. Rohit’s best at home but I just wonder if it is not going to backfire India, because they were not the same team in the second Test.
‘I think Rohit is a flat-track bully. Let’s look at record outside India. Every time he has been to South Africa, I’ve clearly got the feeling that he does not like the short ball.
‘(I did not like) the fact that he’s in the middle-order now. He is an opener. He must come and lead from the front.’
It comes as India’s batters have been told they must fix their first-innings woes and find a way to go big against Australia in Brisbane, after a horror recent run in Tests over the past three months.
Locked at 1-1, India arrive at the Gabba with good memories after their heroics at the venue four summers ago allowed them to keep the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
But they are also well aware they must overturn a damning run with the bat that extends back to their two-Test series against Bangladesh in September.
Shubman Gill, right, took over the duties of talking to the media ahead of the Brisbane Test
While much of the focus has been on Australia’s faltering top order, India have had their own issues in recent months in their first innings of Tests.
In seven Tests this season, India’s top seven batters have recorded no centuries and 10 ducks in their team’s first innings.
The only three-figure score from an Indian player in a first innings has come from Ravichandran Ashwin batting at No.8 against Bangladesh.
Together, the group have also only posted seven scores above 50, with the top seven averaging 22.
Virat Kohli also has only one first-innings score above 10 in the Tests against Bangladesh, New Zealand and Australia, while Rohit has not reached 25.
‘As a team and as a batting group we are looking to post a big total first-up,’ top-order batter Shubman Gill said.
‘This has been one of the key discussions. Every batter is going to have his own game plan.
‘As a batting group, collectively, we are going to try and get a big first-innings score. That is what the discussion has been about.’
Gill has been India’s most consistent performer with the bat over that time, and made scores of 31 and 28 on return from a broken thumb in Adelaide last week.
He made his debut on India’s last tour of Australia, hitting a crucial 91 in the Gabba Test to help his side stun the hosts and claim an upset series victory.
‘Definitely (felt) very nostalgic when I came here,’ Gill said.
‘The conditions are definitely challenging (in Australia), but there is a period from between 30 or 35 overs to the new ball where it gets a little easier to bat.
‘It’s about mental intensity. The pitches are fast.
‘You have to be right there on the mental fitness, and play at the same intensity at which you came to the crease at the start.’
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