Former Pakistan cricket team star Basit Ali was extremely critical of the duo and he said that both of them are struggling in the same manner as Babar Azam:
"After Babar, Rohit and Virat are also in the same situation, poor form"
"When Rohit missed two deliveries, struck on the pads and then on the lower abdomen, he stepped out to hit a four. This shows that his feet are not moving, form is not good. Then he hit a four off a reverse sweep,"
"Virat Kohli, out of touch, not in form at all. He needs to play domestically before flying to Australia, Rohit also. Test match practice cannot be seen,"
“It was the mandate that you must make yourself available for domestic cricket to be eligible for India selection. Everyone played, all of them performed in patches - Shubman Gill, Pant, Yashasvi Jaiswal...but these two (Rohit and Virat) were given a free hand and allowed to exclude themselves,”