Rohit and Virat still have the hunger; says Gambhir

No one in the team will say it, but they are all surely thinking it.

- Ashish Magotra

SYDNEY: If you are a player who has been around for a while, non-performance is like a crown of thorns. You have seen it claim careers before. And for a junior, it represents an opportunity.

This Australia tour has given us a glimpse of both sides of the coin. But the sight of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the most senior and respected batters struggling and failing over and over again, was tough to digest. At one level, it made fans wonder why are they still around, and that thought was a fair reflection of their recent form.

India skipper Rohit, who sat himself out of the Sydney Test, made 31 runs at an average of 6.20 in the series. Kohli, on the other hand, made 190 runs at an average of 23.75. Both averaged well below what their standing in world cricket would suggest, and their inability to get among the runs was among the main reasons for India's failure to defend the Border Gavaskar Trophy, the Aussies claiming it with a 3-1 series win.

Rohit, at 37, has already said Test retirement is not on his mind. Kohli, 36, has not even mentioned it in public. That is very much their personal choice. The decision the selectors make may be different from theirs. At some point, India will have to move on.