Even though India captain Rohit Sharma was dismissed for only 5 runs by Kagiso Rabada in the first innings of the Centurion Test, his smashing to Marco Jansen in the World Cup helped India today as Jansen looked down on confidence. This is the opinion of the commentator Mark Nicholas.
Mark Nicholas, an astute reader of the game and the players, observed that Jansen had lost all his mojo and confidence since he was hammered by Rohit Sharma during their encounter in Kolkata in the World Cup.
In the World Cup, Rohit was on a mission to take the intentful route right from the first over, and in the process blaster Marco Jansen for multiple boundaries in the powerplay in Kolkata. From that point, Jansen’s performances dipped. Today as well, his first couple of spells didn’t resonate with the lengths of his teammate pacers; while Rabada and Burger put pressure on the Indian batters, Jansen released it with loose balls.
Rohit Sharma definitely upset Jansen: Mark Nicholas
During his commentatory stint on Day 1 in Centurion, Mark Nicholas was heard saying this about Rohit Sharma’s affect on Marco Jansen.
Nicholas said on commentary on Star Sports: “Jansen got a tough time in Kolkata (vs India) in the World Cup. He bowled beautifully in the first half of the World Cup, but then Rohit Sharma climbed into him in Kolkata. It definitely upset him; he lost his mojo. I don’t know whether he finished his 10 overs or not that day, but he started to bowl some wides, lost confidence and hasn’t recovered yet.
“He’s just got to keep it as simple as he can. Think about the basics, don’t try to mend the ball to talk.”
Jansen also got flustered today when KL Rahul was set and looking to hit a few boundaries. He sledged KL Rahul, but that didn’t disturb the zen-mode of Rahul, who remained unbeaten on 70 to take India to 208/8 at stumps, which was called early due to rain.
UPDATE – Day 1 of the 1st #SAvIND Test has been called off due to rain 🌧️#TeamIndia 208/8 after 59 overs.
See you tomorrow for Day 2 action.
Scorecard – https://t.co/Zyd5kIcYso pic.twitter.com/tmvVtiwRfJ
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 26, 2023
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