Rohit was named by the BCCI as the opener and replaced KL Rahul in Test XI
Rohit Sharma received a new opportunity in his career as he was named as the Test opener for India’s home Test series against the South African Cricket Team. He replaced KL Rahul in the Test playing XI due to his poor batting performance during the West Indies tour. In early reports, former cricketer Sourav Ganguly suggested that Rohit should be the opener.
During the West Indies tour, Rohit was omitted in Test XI. He was benched in the two-Test series in Jamaica. The Men in Blue won in the two-match series, posting a score of 120 in the ICC World Test Championship table.
Despite Rohit being named by the selectors as the opener, former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar pointed out flaws in Rohit’s technique which seemed to trouble him in limited-overs.
‘Look we know there is a difference between red and white ball. The white ball can stop swinging in five overs. With the kind of stitches on the red leather, you may find it swinging even after the 35 to 40 over the mark. So, facing up against swing is a different matter and he does struggle a bit against the incoming ball. Having said that, if his selection is good, he will be able to score in test cricket too’, Gavaskar said.
Gavaskar also compared Rohit to Virender Sehwag. He seemed to be optimistic of Rohit’s skills in red-ball cricket. ‘When we talk about Rohit Sharma, he doesn’t have the watertight defence like Virender Sehwag. But he perhaps has more shots than Sehwag. Sehwag would not hit the ball so much on the side. Rohit can use the pull and hook very well. So Rohit does have more attacking shots. If he can tighten up his defence against the good balls, he can also be successful like Sehwag in Test cricket’.
The Test series between India and South Africa will begin on October 2. The odds of the matches will be available soon. Check out the latest cricket odds at Betwala.
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