India captain Rohit Sharma looked “over-cautious” in his innings and remained in his shell throughout his knock of 14 runs in 41 balls in India’s first innings against England in the 2nd Test match in Visakhapatnam. This is the observation of Rohit’s former India teammate RP Singh.
The former fast bowler opined that Rohit Sharma batted uncharacteristically today, and instead should have played in his usual attacking and spirited manner.
On a surface that both captains and pitch reporters said was much better for batting than in the first Test in Hyderabad, Rohit won the toss and elected to bat first. The Indian skipper was the first wicket to go, glancing a full delivery from debutant off-spinner Shoaib Bashir to Pope at leg-slip.
Rohit batted against his natural instincts today: RP Singh
Rohit’s innings was uncharacteristic one: on one end, Yashasvi Jaiswal looked comfortable and creamed boundaries, Rohit didn’t hit a single boundary in his stay and was troubled first by James Anderson, then by the England spinners, before eventually succumbing to Bashir.
Speaking with Cricbuzz, RP Singh said he was surprised by Rohit Sharma’s approach in his innings today.
RP Singh said, “I was very surprised with Rohit’s game today. Because that is not his style. He looked over-cautious. He also missed a full toss on the leg stump – he should have hit it for a boundary. To approach a Test innings. it’s not necessary to play a lot of balls; important is to keep scoring. Rohit generally doesn’t bat with such an approach where he is so defensive and over-cautious.
“Rohit batted against his natural instincts today. I think I saw a rare innings from Rohit where he was so much on the backfoot. He also didn’t capitalize on the loose balls. In Test matches, it’s important how long you stay in the middle and how much you score.”
RP Singh also pointed out that perhaps the lack of experience in the batting line-up today forced Rohit Sharma to bat conservatively.
“Senior players – Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Jadeja – are not playing in this match. So that might have been in Rohit’s mind to play a long innings. But I believe it would have been better had Rohit looked to build a big partnership. It was not a good approach from Rohit, where he didn’t even rotate strike frequently. He remained in his shell,” the former seamer asserted.
‘#RohitSharma looked over-cautious, got into an uncharacteristic shell’ @rpsingh dissects #Rohit‘s knock on Day 1 of the 2nd Test, on #CricbuzzChatter #INDvENG pic.twitter.com/B8xPjyMc5a
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) February 2, 2024
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