Rohit Sharma's form is concerning to batting coach Sitanshu Kotak
To say Rohit Sharma is going through a tough phase is an understatement. India’s ODI and Test captain hasn’t gone past a score of 10 in the last five international innings.
He has 12 single-digit scores from his last 16 innings with his last fifty-plus score coming in September, 2024 in the Test series against Bangladesh.
Rohit’s problems in Test cricket have been recurring. He was averaging below 25 despite having played 12 Tests between 2013 and 2014. In 2018, Rohit had just one fifty from eight innings in a total of 184 runs and an average of 26. So, the great slump of 2024 – 619 runs from 26 innings, at an average of 24 – isn’t earth shattering.
However, he is a different beast in ODIs being the only one to score three double centuries, over 10,000 runs and a galore of other records. Barring the calendar year of 2012, where he averaged 12 after playing 14 matches, Rohit’s average has never gone below 30 when he has played more than three matches.
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Rohit’s staggering numbers in the 50-over format, made a journalist ask a hopeful question ahead of the first ODI against England in Nagpur. The question was whether the format change from Tests to ODIs give him belief to score big. The intentions sounded fine, but the tone of questioning came out wrong which clearly flustered Rohit. In his typical fashion, the Indian captain wasn’t caustic with his reply, but made sure he didn’t like what he was hearing.
“What kind of question is that? This is a different format. As cricketers, we know there are ups and downs. I’m very much aware of that. Every series is a fresh challenge. Not looking at what has happened in the past and only looking forward,” Rohit said in the pre-match press conference and added “Clearly you don’t (look forward),” while looking at the journalist.
It didn’t turn out well for him.
He walked out with debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal in chase of 249 at his birthplace of Nagpur, but was back in the hut within 10 minutes. His individual score was two.
It furthered the debate around the skipper’s form, but India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak is not the one to listen to the noise. Ahead of the second ODI in Cuttack, he took a sampling of Rohit’s 2024 ODI numbers.
“Personally, I don’t think there is any problem. In the last three ODIs Rohit has scored 56, 64 and 35, so is nearly averaging 50-plus from those games. I mean, we’re talking about a guy who’s got 31 One-Day International hundreds. When he scores back-to-back hundreds or keeps scoring runs, nobody asks “when will he fail?” Kotak put a question back to Rohit’s detractors.
“When sometimes a player gets out (for a small score) or is going through a lean patch, I wouldn’t be thinking about their forms,” he added.
Kotak is factually correct. From the three ODI matches he played in the entirety of last year, Rohit has an average of 52.33 with his strike-rate going through the roof. Also, he was the best batter in the side that lost the series in Sri Lanka by 2-0.
“If you are talking about the Australia Tests, yes, that was a tough time and he got out soon. But about the one-dayers, the way he batted in the last three one-dayers before the first ODI (in Nagpur), he’s always been scoring runs, so not really so much concern about that,” Kotak said, putting an end to questions for the time being.
Kotak, a great batter in his own right and an elite coach, can and will say these things for the team. But the concern of an average fan and hardcore Rohit loyalists is that they want don’t see him in the dressing room if they tune into India’s innings slightly late. They were unable to escape that sight even in the Ranji Trophy match against Jammu & Kashmir. They are too sick of that sight and certainly wouldn’t want that when the Champions Trophy begins later this month.
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