MUMBAI: Star batsman Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma are the backbone of Indian cricket. The 'Rohirat' duo of the fans has stepped down from Tests and T20s. Now both of them will be seen in the Indian shirt only in ODI cricket. In short, the head coach Gautam Gambhir will become the centre of power in Indian cricket from now on.

Gambhir will not have much difficulty implementing his wishes and decisions in an Indian team without Rohit and Virat. Captain Rohit Sharma was the first to retire from the Test team. Virat Kohli, who had previously led the Test team, was interested in becoming the captain instead. However, neither the BCCI nor the selectors gave in to this demand of the player. The BCCI and the coach are interested in giving the charge of the Test team to a young player.

Some national media reports say that apart from not getting the captaincy back, the team management has also imposed some restrictions that prompted Kohli to speed up the decision to retire. Whatever the case, it is certain that the Indian Test team will be under the sovereignty of Gautam Gambhir . However, even though Gambhir says that he has been given the freedom to implement his wishes in the team, there are still some risk elements for Gambhir.

India won the Champions Trophy under Gautam Gambhir. The team is putting up brilliant performances in the Twenty20 format at home and abroad. However, the situation is different in Test cricket. When the season started in September last year, India could have qualified for the World Test Championship final if they had won five of the remaining ten Test matches. India started well by defeating a weak Bangladesh 2-0 in the two-match series. New Zealand then came to India to play a three-match Test series. Coming after losing the Test series at home to a weak Sri Lanka, no one thought that the Kiwis would be a match for India. Shockingly, Tom Latham and his team whitewashed India 3-0 in India for the first time in history. It was jaw-dropping that India suffered a series defeat at home after 12 years.

The team went straight to Australia. The result was a draw, a win and three losses in five matches. The Border Gavaskar Trophy was also lost. The team did not qualify for the World Test Championship final. There are five Tests to play in England. The start of a new cycle of the WTC. This series is crucial for Gautam Gambhir. If the team fails to excel in this, it will be a challenge for Gambhir's coaching job.

Gambhir has three wins, one draw and six losses to his credit while coaching India in ten Test matches. Gambhir will also be aware that if things do not improve on the England tour, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will not be there to take responsibility for the defeat. If that happens, the BCCI will not hesitate to hand over the Test team's coaching post to someone else. Especially when people like VVS Laxman are waiting for an opportunity.