Speculation that India captain Rohit Sharma and batting stalwart Virat Kohli are set to call time on their test careers has snowballed as the veteran pair continue to struggle in the five-test series in Australia.
India, who won their last two test tours in Australia, went 2-1 down in the series after their stunning defeat in Melbourne on Monday, with the hosts needing only a draw in Sydney to reclaim the Border-Gavaskar Trophy (BGT). Opener Rohit has just one fifty and 10 single-digit scores in his last 15 test innings, and even a move down the order failed to pay dividends for the 37-year-old.
Under his captaincy, India have lost five tests this season, equalling their unwanted record from 1999-2000 under Sachin Tendulkar.
Kohli, one of the greats of the modern game, has not fared much better.
The 36-year-old struck a century in the opening test in Perth but had a wretched season overall with nine single-digit scores in 17 innings this test season.
Both New Zealand and Australia have exploited his vulnerability to left-arm spin and outside the off-stump line, rendering him a walking wicket at times.
"Is it time to take a call on seniors Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli?" the Hindustan Times newspaper asked on its front page after the defeat in Melbourne, where India lost seven wickets after tea on day five.
That sentiment was echoed among fans in the cricket-mad country where Rohit and Kohli are practically worshipped, with the term "happy retirement" trending on Monday.
Both players quit Twenty20 Internationals immediately after guiding India to their second 20-overs World Cup title in June.
"Is the Rohit-Kohli retirement announcement round the corner?" asked the Indian Express.
"The curtain is beginning to slide down from above; will they give themselves one more test at Sydney with BGT still open and out there for the taking or ...?"
The Times of India called for an immediate changing of the guard, saying the senior batters were "in danger of being termed as liabilities".
The Melbourne defeat not only dented India's chances of retaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, it effectively ended their hopes of reaching the World Test Championship final for the third time in a row.
Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar said another failure in Sydney could prompt Rohit to quit test cricket and that India should draft in new faces for their England tour next year.
"The next cycle of the World Test Championship will be the cycle for 2027. You should see new faces for that," Gavaskar told an Indian Digital Media Channel.
India had been cruising at 121-3 at the time, but lurched to all out for 155 as Australia went 2-1 up in the five-match series and put one hand on the Border-Gavaskar trophy.
While India's frontline batters – barring opener Yashasvi Jaiswal – flopped again, the defeat also highlighted the tourists' over-reliance on pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.
Comfortably the leading wicket-taker in the series, Bumrah bowled 53.2 overs in the match - the highest in the 44 Tests he has played.
Rohit accepted they risked over-bowling his deputy. "Every Test match we play, we keep in mind the workloads of all the bowlers.
But if somebody is in such a great form, you want to try and maximise that form. That is what we've been trying to do with Bumrah," he said.
"But there comes a time where you need to step back and give him that little bit of extra breather as well. "I've been very careful. I talked to him about how he feels and stuff like that. Those things should be managed carefully, and I'm trying to do that."
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