Expectations were sky-high from Virat Kohli’s deputy Rohit Sharma when the India batting star had left the Indian shores with the team for the ongoing tour of South Africa.
After recovering from an injury that kept him on the sidelines for close to six months, Rohit returned to action in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and hit the ground running, leading Mumbai Indians to a record third title. The Hitman was in full flow in the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy as he finished the tournament as the second highest run-scorer.
The right-handed batsman Rohit performed exceedingly well in the One-day Internationals since returning to the team in June, amassing 1293 runs at 71.83 in just 21 games — almost matching Virat Kohli, who scored 1460 runs at 76.85, but having played five more matches in this span. He also scored the same number of hundreds (6) as Kohli at a better strike-rate than the skipper.
Known for playing long innings in the ODI fold in particular and his aim was getting better and better with every passing day and became one to remember with the turn of events in December.
After making a century in his comeback Test against Sri Lanka, he was given the responsibility to lead the side in the limited-overs series against the Lions.
While leading the side from the front, he scored a stunning double century in the second ODI in Mohali, thus taking his tally of ODI double tons to three, and a century off just 35 balls to help the team win both the limited-overs’ series.
However, he has failed to live up to the expectations in South Africa so far. After his failure in the Test series, it was expected that the opening batsman would hit the top-gear once he dons the coloured jersey. But Rohit has failed to regain his form in the ongoing ODI series too. In the first two games, he scored only 20 and 15.
But while the dip in form is quite alarming, Shikhar Dhawan has leapt in the defence of his opening partner.
Speaking ahead of the third ODI scheduled at Newlands in Cape Town on Wednesday (February 7), the southpaw said Rohit is just one good knock away from turning things around.
“He has performed so well right from the Champions Trophy, till now. Sometimes it does happen that you don’t score runs. But what matters the most is how he is timing the ball,” Dhawan said on Tuesday (February 6).
“There is no problem at all with his form. I think he just needs one good innings, to solve all problems,” Dhawan added.
India are leading the series 2-0 and one of the prime reasons behind it is the performance of the team’s wrist-spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal who have been phenomenal.
The duo has picked up 13 wickets together as India defeated the Proteas convincingly in both the games.
When asked about how to deal with the wrist-spinners, Dhawan said:
“It is difficult to play wrist-spinners because they have the ability to turn the ball on flat tracks as well”.
“And when the ball starts to turn, foreign players find it really difficult, because they are not used to playing such kind of turn. That can create a doubt in batsman’s mind. That is why they are really effective.
“Out of the two spinners Kuldeep and Chahal, the former is more difficult to read as he is a chinaman bowler. There are certain players who can’t read the googly. As far as Chahal is concerned, not many players read his googly,” he concluded.
The third match of the series will be played in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Follow ODI series here: South Africa Vs India, 2018