On ESPNcricinfo, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar pointed out Rohit’s defence getting breached on various occasions.
Rohit Sharma’s downfall in Test cricket has extended beyond expectations, and if you see him bat, he doesn’t look like returning to his best anymore. He hit a purple patch right after being slotted to open and soon became one of the finest Test openers in world cricket.
He aced various conditions and was crucial in India’s immense success overseas. One major reason behind his flourish at the top was his trust in defence, which seemed missing now.
On ESPNcricinfo, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar pointed out Rohit’s defence getting breached on various occasions. Reminding the England series in 2021, Manjrekar exclaimed he is failing to bring his defence back into his game now.
“First obvious answer is short of confidence (and) self-doubts (on the reason behind not getting over his lean patch) and a bit of a rude shock when he played in that home series against New Zealand, and his defence was getting breached on those Indian pitches. So, in 2021, when he had that terrific series against England – he scored at a strike rate of 42, which is a bit Pujara-like, and in the entire series, he batted for around 21 hours. So, this was a new discovery for all of us. The time came when he had to bring that back on again, he just can’t find the defensive game. So, I guess that is where the problem lies – just gone to pieces basically, his defence. The grit, the patience, has just gone away.”
Since the start of the home season against Bangladesh in September, Rohit Sharma has scored only 152 runs at an average of 11.69 in 13 innings, including one fifty.
Even in the ongoing Test series against Australia, Rohit has 19 runs in three outings, with the best of 10. He has tried too many things, but none have fetched success for him as Rohit’s struggles have continued.
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The Aussie quicks have exploited his problems on the off-stump line. Rohit has batted in the middle order on this tour, but his fortunes haven’t changed.
There are still two matches left, and Rohit will look to regain his lost form. He looked good in training sessions, and the team management would hope to see a big score from their captain.
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