For the last one and a half years, Indian Test captain Rohit Sharma has struggled with the bat, especially at home, in the longest format, with some low scores. That has started to put some pressure on the selectors as they are nearly prepared to announce the squad of the Blue Brigade for the five-match Test series in Australia during the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25.
Rohit Sharma could manage only two runs in the first innings of the opening Test in Bengaluru before working a half-century in the second at a strike rate of over 80, with the help of eight boundaries and one six, but that wasn’t enough as he had an unfortunate dismissal, before India faced their maiden defeat against the Kiwis at home after 36 years.
The pressure was getting on the batter to offer the Indian team a good start, but he failed in the first innings of the third Test in Pune. His struggles against the pacer to the balls that had been shaping away were witnessed again.
Sanjay Manjrekar points out the weakness of Rohit Sharma
India did a great job with the ball in the first innings of the Pune Test match, where they bundled out the visiting side for 259, despite finding them at 197/3, which could have ended as a troubling day for the home side, who has found a do-or-die situation of losing a home Test for the first time since Roh2012.
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The 37-year-old came out to bat for the last half-an-hour on the first day of the second Test match but couldn’t be able to open the account, as he returned for a nine-ball duck. Tim Southee broke through the defense of Rohit Sharma, who has now made it a fashion to be dismissed in the same fashion consistently.
Since the start of 2023 in the red-ball format, the Nagpur-born has smashed 1170 runs in 22 innings at an average of just over 35 and a strike rate of over 60, with the help of three centuries and two half-centuries, which means that when he doesn’t get the chance, the home side never gets the worth of a good opening partnership.
The former Indian batter, Sanjay Manjrekar, has pointed out that the seam movement of the surface has made it tough for Rohit Sharma, who has displayed some loose defense at the start of his career and has got the issue back again.
“Defense is a matter of concern. He is a great player but, he needs to improve his defense even more. I have seen it happen in the second innings of the last Test. He is doing well but, in the first innings when the pitch is doing some movement, that is what we talk about. About Rohit’s loose defense in the early part of his career. He does not step forward and go to play with the bat. He has started again.” Sanjay Manjrekar has expressed this during his recent interaction on ESPNcricinfo.
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Losing the toss the Indian team was asked to bat second on the slow and low surface, where they were under early pressure with a 197/3 score of New Zealand. But Washington Sundar made a dream comeback for the home side with his incredible bowling figures of 7/59 in an innings.
It was satisfying to see the Tamil Nadu spinner for the way he consistently changed his line and length, besides varying the pace. But now, the pressure will be on the Rohit Sharma-led side to put up a massive total in the first innings.