Rohit Sharma Matches Virat Kohli’s Unwanted Feat After Crushing Test Defeat

Australia secured a dominant 10-wicket victory over India in the second Test of the five-match series at Adelaide Oval. Chasing a modest target of 19 runs set by India in the fourth innings, the hosts achieved it effortlessly in just 3.2 overs without losing a wicket. The pink ball Test, played from December 6 to 8, ended in a humiliating loss for India, placing Rohit Sharma alongside Virat Kohli in an unwanted list.

Rohit, who succeeded Kohli as India’s captain in November 2021, became only the second Indian skipper after Kohli to lose matches in all three formats by a 10-wicket margin.

Under Kohli’s captaincy, India faced a similar Test defeat against New Zealand in Wellington (February 2020) and an ODI loss to Australia in Mumbai (January 2020). Kohli was also captain when India suffered their first-ever 10-wicket defeat in T20Is against Pakistan during the T20 World Cup 2021 in Dubai.

Rohit’s captaincy woes include a T20I loss by 10 wickets to England in the semi-final of the 2022 T20 World Cup in Adelaide (November 2022) and an ODI defeat to Australia by the same margin in Visakhapatnam (March 2023).

Interestingly, Kohli played in all three matches that India lost by 10 wickets under Rohit’s leadership. This made him the first Indian player to lose Test, ODI, and T20I matches by such margins on multiple occasions.

The Adelaide defeat has also jeopardized India’s chances of qualifying for the 2025 World Test Championship (WTC) final. India has now slipped to No. 3 on the WTC 2023-25 points table. With three matches remaining in the series, India must secure victories in all of them to ensure a spot in the top two and qualify for their third consecutive WTC final.