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Rohit becomes the sixth Indian captain after Datta Gaekwad, MAK Pataudi, Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, and Virat Kohli to lose four Tests in a row.
Rohit Sharma becomes sixth Indian captain to lose four Tests in a row. (Picture Credit: AP)
Rohit Sharma joined MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli in an unwanted list of Indian captains on Sunday, December 8, after Australia beat India by 10 wickets in the second Test. India’s defeat in the match played with the pink ball at Adelaide Oval was Rohit’s fourth straight Test defeat as Indian captain. Before losing the pink-ball Test against Australia inside three days, India lost three back-to-back Tests under Rohit’s captaincy against New Zealand in October-November 2024.
Rohit is the sixth Indian captain to lose four back-to-back Test matches. Datta Gaekwad was the first Indian captain to lose four Tests in a row. Under his leadership, India lost four Tests in a row against England during the five-match series played from June 4 to August 24 in 1959.
MAK Pataudi joined Gaekwad in the unwanted list during the 1967-68 season. Under Pataudi’s captaincy, India suffered defeats in six back-to-back Tests.
Sachin Tendulkar lost five Tests in a row as India captain in the 1999-2000 season, and India lost four Tests in a row twice under MS Dhoni’s captaincy. Virat Kohli, who is India’s most successful captain in Tests, also lost four back-to-back as India captain in the 2020-21 season.
Indian captains to lose most Tests in a row
- 6 – MAK Pataudi (1967-68)
- 5 – Sachin Tendulkar (1999-00)
- 4 – Datta Gaekwad (1959)
- 4 – MS Dhoni (2011)
- 4 – MS Dhoni (2014)
- 4 – Virat Kohli (2020-21)
- 4 – Rohit Sharma (2024)
Under his captaincy, India suffered a whitewash in a two-match series played against New Zealand in February 2020 and then lost the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Australia at Adelaide Oval from December 17 to 19 in 2020. Kohli missed the next three Tests due to the birth of his first child and made a comeback during the home series against England in February-March 2021. But in the first Test of that series, India was humiliated by England in Chennai.
India dropped to No. 3 position in the WTC points table
After suffering a humiliating defeat by 10 wickets in the Adelaide Test, India has dropped to the No. 3 position in the WTC 2023-25 points table, and the team’s chances of qualifying for the WTC 2025 final are in serious doubt now. India now has to win all three remaining Tests against Australia to stand a chance of finishing in the top two and qualifying for the WTC 2025 final.
