Since the ten-wicket defeat for India in the second Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 at the Adelaide Oval, many of the former captain and coaches, including Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri, have encouraged Rohit Sharma, the regular red-ball leader of the national side to go back at his known territory of opening.
Rohit Sharma, who missed the first Test of the series due to paternity leave, made his way into the middle order of the second day-night Test on the back of the 201-run opening stand between Yashasvi Jaiswal and KL Rahul in the second innings of the Perth Test match. The two-time runners-up of the event also enjoyed a great time with a 295-run victory.
The Nagpur-born faced incredible challenges in both the innings of the previous Test. In the first innings, the tourists had lost three wickets in successive progression when the right-handed batter walked out in the middle and somehow managed to see off firing Mitchell Starc just before the first break. But he didn’t last long.
Soon in the second session, Rohit Sharma was trapped leg before the stumps against Scott Boland as the entire side was bundled out for just 180. In the second innings, the situation was nearly the same, but the conditions were far more difficult.
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India had lost four wickets by then, besides trailing by over 100 runs, while the floodlights had already taken full effect, making the pacers enjoy the conditions the most. The Mumbai batter was struck on the helmet as he was late on the pull shot against Starc. On the very second ball, he survived a close short for LBW but couldn’t extend his stay much in the middle.
BCCI coach reveals reason behind Rohit Sharma’s requirement to bat at No. 6
Pat Cummins, after being driven for a cover drive for four runs, squared up the batter to disturb the stumps. It resulted in the side getting destroyed for 175 in the second inning. The issue for Rohit Sharma in SENA countries has been going on for a long time. Across all the batting positions in 46 competed innings in these four places, he averages a shade below 30, while as an opener, the number goes up to 37.8, and that too because of the successful England summer he had in 2021.
The former coach of the National Cricket Academy (NCA), who is also a BCCI Level 3 coach, felt that the technical aspects of the 37-year-old highlight that opening might not be a good option for the Indian captain at the moment.
“Rohit Sharma has had very limited footwork all his career, even when he was in his prime. Obviously, at 37 and half years, the reflexes have slowed down, and he is picking the length a trifle late.” The qualified batting coach dissected the conditions of PTI.
“The same Rohit will look very different in the IPL where you might still find him scoring a 35-ball-70 for Mumbai Indians with the opposition having at least a couple of mid-130s domestic bowlers.” The veteran added.
He also shed light on why it would be important for Rohit Sharma to stay at number six rather than going back to opening.
“If you look at Rohit’s dismissals, even in India, he is getting squared up more often than not. The reason is that his front-foot stride is becoming shorter with age. For example, if you have pronounced front-foot side, say three feet, you can cut the angle of deviation of a delivery off the surface.” The former NCA coach expressed.
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“But if your stride is just a foot and a quarter, you are allowing the same delivery to shape in or shape out. So, a world-class bowler will attack both your inside edge and outside edge.” The former opener explained.
Rohit Sharma hasn’t batted in the middle order in Tests since 2018. His average is just under 50 at his position, but that’s because of the 177-run knock on debut. The BCCI coach gave reasons why Rohit Sharma would be better at number six in the third Gabba Test.
“To be fair, if your stride is shorter and reflexes on the wane, the Pink Kookaburra will make it even more difficult for you to survive. I think KL had said before the game that it comes a lot quicker than Red Kookaburra, and it skids off the surface. With his current footwork, the Red Kookaburra would again dart around and seam at the Gabba if he opens.” He concluded.