Indian skipper Virat Kohli heaped high praise on Rohit Sharma ahead of the second Test match against South Africa in Pune. Rohit Sharma was backed by the think tank to open the innings in the first Test match at Visakhapatnam. The flamboyant batsman was able to grab his chance with both hands as he scored a fine knock of 176 in the first innings.
Rohit had added a record-breaking alliance of 317 runs with his opening partner Mayank Agarwal. The right-hander also backed up his first-innings century with another hundred. The stylish batsman scored a fine knock of 127 in the second innings to become the first opener in Test cricket to score two centuries while making his opening debut.
Rohit was magnificent in the first Test.
“Come on, give the guy (Rohit Sharma) a break now. He has done well, let him enjoy his batting at the top of the order, let him just have fun as he does in white-ball cricket. Stop focussing on what Rohit is going to do in Test, he is in a great space, he playing well. He looked relaxed in the first Test which is great to see. All the experience he has had over the years came to the fore. Rohit Sharma feels at home at the top of the order”.
“For us as a team, it is a huge bonus because if you see the second innings, the way he was able to take the tempo of the game forward, that allows the bowlers an extra two hours to maybe bowl the opposition out. Look if a guy like him plays the way he did in the last game, then we are going to be in situations in which we are going to go for victories in most of the Test matches,” said Kohli during the pre-match press conference ahead of the 2nd Test against South Africa in Pune.
