VVS Laxman has opined that opener Rohit Sharma has not been as expressive in Tests as he has in white-ball cricket. Speaking at the end of Day 1 of the first Test against England on a chat, VVS Laxman dissected Rohit Sharma’s approach while opening the innings in foreign conditions.
Rohit Sharma has recorded scores of 26, 52, 44, 7, 34, and 30 as an opener while playing in Sydney, Brisbane, and Southampton over the last year. He has gotten off to starts on almost all occasions by countering good bowling attacks wielded by Australia and New Zealand in testing conditions.
VVS Laxman: Rohit Sharma Hasn’t Been As Expressive As He Is In White Ball Cricket
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 in England, will hope to emulate that success in red-ball cricket.
VVS Laxman said: “This has been the game plan of Rohit Sharma, especially in the overseas conditions. He has not been as expressive as he is in white-ball cricket.
“He takes his time, respects the good deliveries, and whenever the ball is short, he looks to play the back-foot punch or a cut short, and for anything on the stumps, he uses his wrist or plays with the straight bat towards mid-on. He has got his game-plan set. It will be interesting to see how KL Rahul approaches his innings tomorrow.”
But he could not convert these knocks into big scores like he effortlessly does in white-ball cricket. Indian fans will be hoping that the flamboyant opener will overcome this hurdle and score big in the current match at Trent Bridge.
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.
VVS Laxman: Both The Openers Would Want To Prove Themselves That They Can Perform In England
VVS Laxman also stated that both openers would be trying to prove a point in this Test by notching up a big score. KL Rahul and Rohit Sharma have always been rated highly due to their elegance and class batsmanship. But consistency has evaded them in Test cricket, especially in matches away from home.
On the matter, Laxman said: “Both the openers would want to prove themselves that they can perform in English conditions. Rohit Sharma is playing his second match in these conditions.
“I thought he batted well in the World Test Championship (WTC) final, even though he did not convert his good start into a big score. His partner KL Rahul has a good basic technique, and at the same time, he has got a lot of shots at his disposal.”
“But they also realized that seeing off the new ball or the tricky period of play that the openers and number 3 batsmen have to encounter at the end of the day’s play, especially when the opposition team is bowled out cheaply. I think they knew that they had to see through the day and then come back fresh tomorrow and start afresh,” Laxman concluded.
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. On the 2nd day, India hasn’t lost a wicket and is going strong at 46/0 in the 27th over with Rohit Sharma batting on 25 off 76 balls and KL Rahul on 17 off 88 balls.