Muralidaran Ramesh Somasunderam

Sharma has weaknesses that he has developed, which are not playing within the V and not going forward or back precisely when playing his defensive strokes both on the front and back foot. Also he is not very fit physically and tactically is making mistakes when captaining the Indian national cricket team. He therefore is holding a position for an up and coming player for example Gill who was dropped to give place for Sharma should have played and hopefully learnt from his mistakes from the previous Test Match, which Gill played. So the time has come for Sharma to retire as his reflexes are not the same as five or ten years ago.

Kohli has always had a weakness in regard to bowlers targeting a fourth stump line to him. This has been significantly increased with lack of form and age. He also does not believe in playing in regard to the V and takes many deliveries from off stump and plays them on the onside. This is fine when in good form, but when things are tough he should be going to the basics and knowing where his off stump is, which he seems to not know at present especially and keeps making the same mistake by playing at deliveries, which he should be leaving alone. Again the time has come for him to retire from Test Match Cricket and allow a young player with promise and form to take his place. It is very important that a quality player such as Kohli to realize and know when to retire. This is paramount in my view.

Khawaja also should retire from Test Match cricket as his relaxes are not the same as it was in the past as he is 38 years of age, and he does not move forward or back precisely when playing defensively in particular. He plays from the crease so to speak, which has caused his downfall on many occasions in this current Test Match series against India. Khawaja also opens up when playing defensively on the back foot. These weaknesses have not been addressed by Khawaja or the batting coach of the Australian team to date. So much so that Khawaja has become a liability, as he also does not rotate strike regularly and he is not a very good runner between wickets historically, including presently. In conclusion, as Sydney was his first State where he played his First Test Match against England, I believe it will be fitting for him to call it a day in Sydney in the final Test Match against India starting tomorrow. 

Khawaja was given the opportunity to graduate at the Cricket Academy in Adelaide where he lived the game of cricket for three years, but yet he came out with significant weakness, such as his stance which is too front on, his grip on the bat is U grip rather than a V grip which traditionalist opts. He does not have a top hand grip so his drives through the off side do not have great timing like having a traditional V grip. He is more a front on player rather than a side on traditional player, so if there is any movement off the deck and in the air he is a candidate to get caught behind the wickets. He is more of an onside player rather than traditional left handers who poses great cover drives for example Gower or Hussey who had great cover drives.

Sharma and Kohli were brought up in lower turning wickets and they did not graduate like Khawaja from the Cricket Academy. Both Sharma and Kohli have great hands and are good at turning the balls or deliveries to leg, but have weakness as indicated above as they did not graduate from a living academy such as Khawaja had the privilege in Adelaide.