'BCCI faces reality check as Kohli, Rohit struggle ahead of AUS tour: Has India moved on from Pujara, Rahane?'

Since the appointment of Ajit Agarkar and his selection committee in July last year, the BCCI has decided to move on from Pujara and Rahane, putting more pressure on Kohli and Rohit as the only seasoned batters in the Test line-up. In response, the committee uncovered talented youngsters like 22-year-old opener Yashasvi Jaiswal and 27-year-old middle-order batter Sarfaraz Khan. However, Taylor, speaking on Wide World of Sports' Outside the Rope, believes that India's struggles in Test cricket stem from the lack of consistent performances from both Kohli and Rohit in the past 18 months.

"They [India] have moved on Pujara and they've moved on Rahane, and they've left Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, their best two players, but all of a sudden they've had a bit of a rocky period ... and that has put pressure now on the younger guys and also their lower order," Taylor noted.

"You still need to make the bulk of your runs from your best players, and over the last probably 12 or 18 months that hasn't been the case for India."

Since Agarkar's appointment, while Jaiswal (56.28), Rishabh Pant (46.88) and Shubman Gill (41.85) have emerged as the best batters, Kohli averaged 37.40 and Rohit 33.32, although in 2024 alone, they have averaged a below-par 22.72 and 29.40, respectively.

Chappell, who was part of the same panel, reckoned that while there is criticism and concern over the future of Kohli and Rohit, especially after the horrendous show against New Zealand last week, but feared that the off-field discussion, at one point, might creep into their head and make them raise a similar question.

"India have got some batting problems. I think Jaiswal is a very good-looking young player, left-hand opener, I think Gill can really play. But then you've got Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who are both ageing, and you get to that point where people start talking about it and maybe it starts to creep into your head a little bit [where you think], 'Am I getting to that age where it starts to go down hill?', and they're both at that age. The only thing I'd say against that is they're coming to Australia where the pitches are pretty good, but there'll be the extra bounce and if they have gone over the top then the extra bounce will find them out," he said.