Cricket in Australia has a way of testing even the best and recent events have once again highlighted just how demanding the challenge can be. As England continue to endure a bruising Ashes tour, India’s ODI captain Rohit Sharma offered a candid reminder of what it takes to succeed Down Under.
Speaking at a public event in Gurugram on Sunday, December 21, Rohit shared his thoughts on the difficulty of playing cricket in Australia. Without naming individuals or teams directly, he suggested that the conditions there are among the toughest in the world and hinted that England’s current struggles were proof enough. His comment came at a time when England are in the middle of the 2025–26 Ashes series and already reeling from three consecutive defeats.
Rohit Sharma said, “Playing in Australia is the most difficult, you can ask England about it.”
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England’s hopes of winning an Ashes series in Australia were crushed in just 11 days. They lost the first two Tests in Perth and Brisbane by eight wickets each, both the matches ending inside three days. The third Test at the Adelaide Oval followed a similar script, with Australia securing an 82-run win on Sunday afternoon to seal the series with two matches still to play.
Rohit Sharma, who last played an international match in Australia in October 2025, arrives at this debate with first-hand experience. Widely regarded as one of the finest batters of his generation, he has enjoyed exceptional success in one-day internationals on the Australian soil. In fact, he remains the only Indian batter to score over 1,000 ODI runs in Australia against the six-time World Cup champions.
However, his journey in Test cricket there was far more challenging. Since making his Test debut in 2013 during Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell series, Rohit played 10 Test matches in Australia. Across 19 innings, he scored 439 runs, including three half-centuries, and was dismissed for a duck once. In his final Test series in Australia, played in late 2024, he managed just 31 runs across five innings, underlining how tough the conditions can be in the longer format.
Attention now turns back to the Ashes, with the fourth Test scheduled from December 26 to 30 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Although Australia have already retained the Ashes, they will be keen to extend their dominance and push for a 4–0 lead.
England, led by Ben Stokes, will be desperate to restore some pride. Australia, however, may be without Pat Cummins, who could be rested, and Nathan Lyon, who is sidelined with injury, adding another layer of intrigue to the Boxing Day Test.
