Rohit Sharma needs to determine if he still has hunger to play Tests: Sanjay Bangar

Rohit Sharma stood down from the Sydney Test against Australia as he had not scored many runs in the series. He managed just 31 runs across five innings, with a highest score of 10. 

Taking examples of Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara, who made it back into the Test side at the back of excellent performances in the domestic circuit, former India coach Sanjay Bangar said that Rohit needs to figure out if he still has the hunger to continue playing in the longest format.

“When you are 37 years old, every failure hurts because a cricketer is a very proud person. When he sees the kind of performances he’s had in the past but can’t replicate them, and when young players are performing well, these factors weigh heavily on his mind. He needs to determine whether he still has the hunger to play Test cricket. If he does, that hunger must reflect in his actions," Bangar said on Star Sports.

“There’s been a lot of talk about playing domestic cricket

“Players like Pujara and Rahane, who are on par with Rohit Sharma in stature, have been dropped in the past but have shown their hunger by playing in domestic cricket. Even today, they are sweating it out in domestic grounds, which are a big drop from the intensity of international cricket."

Despite standing down from the Sydney Test, Rohit said that he was still determined to continue playing Test cricket for India. 

With the loss in Sydney, India have failed to make it to the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Their next assignment in the longest format is against England in June.