Sanjay Manjrekar has opined that the five-match series against England is a make-or-break one for Rohit Sharma and that there’s no point in having a batsman, at 34, who only scores big in India.
The much-awaited five-match series between India and England kicks off on Wednesday (August 4) in Nottingham. The members of Team India got much-needed rest after the World Test Championship final and are now all geared up to hit the field for an international fixture after nearly 50 days.
Rohit Sharma Have To Open With Either KL Rahul Or Debutant Abhimanyu Easwaran In The 1st Test
While all eyes will be on Virat Kohli’s captaincy and his form with the bat, Rohit Sharma will also draw his share of the limelight. The right-handed batsman, who now plays as an opener in the Test team too, will be kicking off the proceedings in the UK for the first time.
Rohit Sharma’s last Test appearance against England in their ground came back in 2014 as he wasn’t part of the Test squad which toured the country in 2018. Rohit Sharma will have to negate the new ball threat and will have to build the innings along with either KL Rahul or Abhimanyu Easwaran as Mayank Agarwal is ruled out at least from the 1st Test due to a concussion suffered at net practice.
KL Rahul, who also kept wickets in the practice match against a County Select XI, scored a century while batting in the middle order. The last time India toured England, the opening pair only breached the 50-run mark twice across 10 innings. Hence, the pressure is on Rohit Sharma as he is one of the most experienced members of the Test team.
Sanjay Manjrekar: The England Test Series Is A Make Or Break Series For Rohit Sharma Who Scores Big Only In India
Ahead of the tour, former India batsman Sanjay Manjrekar has opined that the five-match Test series is a make-or-break one Rohit Sharma the Test batter. Sanjay Manjrekar said that there’s no point in having a batsman, at 34, who has played over 40 Tests, who only scores big in India.
“This is also a make-or-break series for the Test batter in Sharma, because there is no point in having a batter with over 40 Tests under his belt, aged 34, to be in the Test team if he is going to get you big scores only in India,” the noted commentator Sanjay Manjrekar wrote.
Rohit Sharma scored 34 runs in the only Test he played on the 2014 tour. In the World Test Championship final, he got starts and scored 34 and 30. Rohit Sharma, who scored 648 runs in the 2019 World Cup, will hope to emulate that success in red-ball cricket. He hit five centuries in the ICC event. Meanwhile, India could have a debutant in Abhimanyu Easwaran in the 1st Test if KL Rahul isn’t given the opening job.
Rohit Sharma has amassed 1094 runs in 12 Tests averaging 60.77 in the WTC cycle of 2019-21. He has scored four centuries. His highest score came against South Africa when he smashed 212 runs in an innings. His first outing as a Test match opener was against South Africa at home and he smashed a century in both innings of the match and followed it with a double century as well.