Indian skipper's childhood coach isn't pleased with his newfound approach in T20Is.
As captain of India, Rohit Sharma may have warmed up to a new role as the top-order aggressor with the bat in T20Is. But his childhood coach Dinesh Lad isn’t quite pleased with the approach shown by the elegant right-hander in recent times.
Since the beginning of coach Rahul Dravid‘s reign last November, Rohit has a strike-rate of 143.76 over 27 innings in the shortest format. However, his average for the timeframe falls below his fine standards at 28.12, a byproduct of risks taken early on at the crease.
Speaking of the same in an interview with PTI, Lad argued he doesn’t think this style of operation suits Rohit Sharma and he should give himself more time before exploding in the middle. For Lad, Rohit is better off going back to playing like he used to: bide his time initially and then take the attacking route once he has his eyes in.
“Yes, he is playing a high-risk game for quite some time now, which he should not. I have no idea why he is doing that. I think he is making a mistake in playing an overly aggressive game,” said Lad in the aftermath of Rohit Sharma’s failure in India’s win over Pakistan at the T20 World Cup 2022.
While Rohit’s dismissal for 4 off 7 was more down to nerves and technique, Lad made a larger point on his year-old approach at the top, enabled through the confidence and clarity provided by Dravid.
“I feel he should spend more time on the crease and not throw his wicket away. I don’t want him to take chances in the first six overs of the powerplay. He should play his normal and natural game.”
“He should try to play 17-18 overs and score around 70-80 runs in every match he plays.”
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Lad revealed that in his most recent conversation with Rohit Sharma, he encouraged the batter to play inside the crease a lot more and give himself more time, playing “sensibly” at the top of the order.
“The last time I spoke to him was before he went to the World Cup. We did not talk much about the technique as he has played so much cricket for India.”
“I advised him to stay on the crease and play sensibly. I always want him to lead from the front and contribute maximum towards India’s victory. But he is not getting the time as he is throwing his wickets away.”
“Sometimes he gets out cheaply playing rash shots and he has to face criticism for that,” Lad added.
