FILE PHOTO: Cricket - Fifth Test - India v England - Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamshala, India - March 8, 2024 India's Rohit Sharma in action REUTERS/Adnan Abidi/File Photo
SYDNEY (Reuters) - India coach Gautam Gambhir said veteran batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli still have a future in the team if they want it, despite disappointing returns on the test tour of Australia.
The tourists went down 3-1 in the series after losing the fifth test by six wickets on Sunday to relinquish the Border-Gavaskar Trophy for the first time in a decade.
Regular test captain Rohit was rested for the match at his own request after poor returns in the second, third and fourth matches, while Kohli made 17 and six in his two innings in Sydney.
"I can't talk about the future of any player, it's up to them as well," Gambhir said.
"What I can say is that they still have the hunger, they still have the passion. They are tough people, and hopefully they can continue to take Indian cricket forward.
"But ultimately, whatever they plan, they will plan for the best interests of Indian cricket."
Gambhir was loathe to blame the Sydney defeat on stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah's inability to bowl in the second innings because of a back complaint, even if he said the fast bowler had been "absolutely outstanding" over the rest of the series.
"It would have been nice if he would have been there, but we still had five bowlers, and a good team is one which is not dependent on one individual," he said.
"We didn't get the result, as simple as that. We lost the series."
India managed only two centuries over the five matches and Gambhir said his batters needed to develop better application in the test arena.
"I think everything boils down to the temperament," he said. "Everything boils down to how much you want to play those tough moments, how much you want to grind in test cricket.
"I feel that that is one issue that we need to probably look after. How can we convert those 20s, 30s, or 40s into big hundreds, not only hundreds, but big hundreds, and set the game for our bowlers?"
Gambhir gave short shrift to Australian accusations that his players had intimidated teenage opener Sam Konstas in the last two matches of the series.
"It's a tough sport played by tough men," he said. "You can't be that soft, as simple as it can get. I don't think there was anything intimidating about it.
"I don't think we need to make a lot of big issues about it."
(Reporting by Nick Mulvenney; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
