Rohit Sharma's inclusion in the Indian Test team defies logic

Rohit Sharma's fortunes in Test cricket are absolutely opposite to his performance in the limited overs format. In one, he is taking the world by storm, and in the other he is increasingly looking like an ordinary player.

Rohit has been in and out of the Indian Test team over the last few years. In other words, he has never been able to cement his place in the Test lineup.

Rohit's Test performances can be divided into two parts - one against weaker teams like West Indies and Sri Lanka, and the other against relatively stronger teams like South Africa, Australia and England.

To make the picture clearer we can look at the stats he has been able to garner against these teams - he has played 9 Tests against West Indies and Sri Lanka and has scored 757 runs at an average of 75.70. Against the rest of the teams, which include the likes of South Africa, Australia, England and New Zealand, Rohit has scored 722 runs from 16 Tests at a poor average of 26.74.

He has scored three hundreds so far in his career, and all three have come against either Sri Lanka or West Indies. Against the rest of the teams, he has scored just 5 fifties in 30 innings.

Rohit is not a newcomer by any stretch of the imagination. He has been playing Test cricket since the last five years, and 25 matches are enough to judge the caliber of any Test batsman. It's not just the numbers, but also the way Rohit has struggled against quality bowlers and the moving ball which is disconcerting.

Now the question arises as to whether Rohit has done anything after his ouster from the Test team to warrant a comeback. The answer? He has struck a rich vein of scoring in the limited overs format, while doing practically nothing in first-class cricket.

But is limited overs form the correct parameter to judge his Test caliber? He has always scored runs in the limited overs format, and has simultaneously failed in the longer version of the game. That in itself is an indicator of the fact that limited overs form should matter very little while selecting the Test squad.

The Indian team going back and forth with Rohit does not paint a healthy picture of the available batting talent in the domestic circuit. If a batsman who has failed to perform time and again in Test cricket is being persisted with, then it says a lot about the confidence that the selectors have in the other fringe players.

Moreover, without giving an opportunity to other upcoming players, how will the Indian team be able to unearth new batting talent that they are famous for?

There have been several instances in the past where a player has been exceptional in one format while being dreadful in the other. Perhaps it is time to assign the 'specialist' tag to India's favorite Hit-man too.