Delhi: Former Indian coach Ravi Shastri supported Rohit Sharma’s decision to bat in the middle order in the second Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. But, in the Gabba Test next week, he was advised to return to the opening slot again. During this time, he also expressed concern about Rohit’s “calm body language”.
After the defeat in Adelaide, a shameful record was registered in the name of captain Rohit, joined the club of Kohli-Dhoni.
Rahul in the opening instead of Rohit
Rohit Sharma remained out of the first Test in Perth because he could not join the team due to the birth of his second child. In his absence, KL Rahul got the chance to open, and he played a brilliant inning of 77 runs and made a record partnership of 201 runs with Yashasvi Jaiswal. After this performance, the team management retained the pairing of Rahul and Jaiswal, and Rohit had to bat at number six in the second Test.
However, while Rahul maintained his rhythm, Rohit could score only 3 and 6 runs in both the innings. This performance also affected his body language, which Shastri described as “too calm”.
Rohit’s body language appeared under pressure
Ravi Shastri said, “This is the reason why I want to see Rohit at the opening. That’s where he looks aggressive and in his form. His body language appeared to be under a bit of pressure. When you are not scoring runs, there is not that much energy on the field. I think he can contribute more in the top order.”
Shastri further said, “If Rohit had opened from the first Test itself, Rahul would have been in the middle order. It would still be right to make the same change.”
Question on Rohit’s captaincy
Not only batting, but questions were also raised on Rohit’s captaincy, especially on the decisions of under-utilizing R Ashwin on the first day and not bringing Jasprit Bumrah into the attack at important moments. Shastri said that Rohit should learn from Australian captain Pat Cummins. Needed.
Shastri said, “After the defeat in Perth, Pat Cummins chose the right words. He said that we were not as bad as the scoreboard was showing. This thing is very important, because it focuses not on external noise, but on the statistics of the game. India will also have to move forward with this mentality.”
Hoping to return to Gaba again
The Indian team will now enter the Gabba ground in Brisbane for the third Test, where it had registered a historic victory in the 2020/21 series. This time too the team will hope that it will make a strong comeback and make the series exciting.