During the recently concluded Test series against England, there were discussions about the exclusion of Rohit Sharma from the Indian squad and how the team missed his presence. But the fact that he has always struggled in the seaming was kept in mind by the selectors and didn’t consider him for the five-match Test series. All the eyes are now on the upcoming Australia tour where Team India is scheduled to play four-match Test series sandwiched between T20I and ODI series.

When it comes to limited overs cricket, there is no doubt about the fact that Rohit is one of the best batsmen in world cricket, but his ability to play the longest format is still under a lot of scrutinies. Most of the people believe that he should be preferred as an opener in Test cricket as well when everyone is failing. Meanwhile, the former Aussie great Ian Chappell also feels that Rohit’s batting style is ideal for the conditions Down Under but also admitted that picking him would be a huge gamble.

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Ian Chappell, in his column for ESPN Cricinfo, attributed Rohit’s style of batting is suitable for the bouncy conditions in Australia but didn’t forget to highlight his struggles in the longest format of the game. The talented batsman has got sufficient chances from the team management over the years. However, he hasn’t been able to repay the faith shown in him.

Describing the same, Chappell said, “A confident and in-form Rohit Sharma would be an ideal player to bolster the batting in Australia. His authoritative horizontal bat shots are perfectly designed to cope with the testing extra bounce, but sadly Rohit has never really come to grips with batting in Test cricket. Selecting him for the tour would be a gamble.”

India will be playing 3 T20Is, 4 Tests and 3 One-Day Internationals during their tour to Australia. The contest between the two teams will commence on November 21 and it will go on until the third week of January next year after which the Men in Blue will go to New Zealand.