Sanjay Manjrekar doesn’t think that Rohit Sharma’s lackluster performance in the IPL should be taken into account too much before the World Test Championship (WTC) final.
India and Australia will play in the WTC final on June 7 at The Oval in London. In IPL 2023, the Indian captain scored 332 runs in 16 innings, but his average of 20.75 was not very impressive. He will lead his team in the most important game.
During a talk on the Star Sports show Game Plan, Manjrekar was asked about Rohit Sharma’s lackluster performance in the IPL and what changes he would have to make in England.
“Don’t worry about how he did in the IPL, because he looked bad in the last IPL, too. What we saw in the first Test match against Australia was how well he could bat, though.”
The former Indian bowler thinks that Rohit is at the top of his game right now in Test cricket.
“At this point in Rohit Sharma’s career, I think Test cricket is the most interesting event for him, just as it has always been for Virat Kohli. So, his hitting in Test cricket is almost perfect right now.”
During India’s tour of England in 2021, Rohit scored 368 runs at a very good average of 52.27 in four Tests. In the first Test India played against Australia this year, he hit a hundred, which helped India win by an innings.
“There is only one problem,” said Sanjay Manjrekar about Rohit Sharma’s dismissals against the short ball.
But Sanjay Manjrekar pointed out a flaw in Rohit Sharma’s game that could be used against him by saying:
“Test matches have shown us just one problem: when he plays the pull shot, he sometimes gets out. They have given him a short ball and kept a defender there. ” That is a natural shot.”
The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that the opener’s approach, especially in ODIs, caused him to play the pull shot in the air. He explained:
“If you watch him play ODI cricket, you’ll notice that his pull shot is very interesting. So he can play the ball down; his backlift doesn’t come from the top. He has a very low backlift. He just picks up the ball and bat, and in the follow-through, the bat goes behind his back to give him strength.
In Test cricket, Manjrekar wants Rohit to stop hitting the pull shot into the air. He says:
“If he plays the pull like that in Test cricket, the ball will only go up in the air. So he can only do one of two things. Either leave the ball because he is not a hitter who always hooks the ball, or keep the ball down for singles, doubles, and fours. He should only use the ODI pull in ODIs, not in tests.
Rohit has played 11 Tests against Australia. In those 11 games, he has scored 650 runs, which is an average of 34.21. In the Nagpur Test, he scored 120 runs, which is the only century he has scored against Australia. He will want to do better in the WTC final.
