BGT: Rohit Sharma Takes Stand For Batters After 2nd Test Defeat
Rohit Sharma shared many statements after the loss of 2nd Test at Adelaide in the BGT series. He shared that team did not perform satisfactorily in batting.
BGT: Be it a pink ball or red ball test, scoring runs in the first innings is the important thing, and the Indian team has oft found itself lagging behind in this matter of late. This is the fourth consecutive time that in the last five tests, the Indian team is not able to surpass a score of 200.
Apart from being restricted to a score of 180 at Adelaide, the Indian team has also made only 150 runs in the first innings at Perth in BGT.
They further scored just 156 against New Zealand at Pune and then 46 at Bengaluru. Rohit Sharma did say that all these matches were played in difficult conditions but at the same time, he did not deny the possibility of doing better in batting.
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Rohit shared that his team fell short of 30-40 runs in 1st innings (BGT)
After India’s 10-wicket defeat, Rohit Sharma said, “When you come to Australia, scoring runs on the head is very important to win the Test match. We scored 30-40 runs less in the first innings. And when Australia was batting, we failed to capitalize on the opportunities (Travis Head was caught out at a personal score of 78 and he later scored 140 runs).
Obviously, when you do not capitalize on such opportunities, things are not that easy later. In the second innings, we thought that the situation was better but we failed in batting.
“Of course, we did not do well with the bat in India as well and we accept that. When we play in India, we try to bat in difficult conditions and this is what we wanted. This was our decision because we knew that there would not be high-scoring matches and this has been the situation for the last four-five years and we accept it.”.
“But when we travel abroad, the conditions here are to score runs. We have also scored runs, as you saw in the first match itself, we scored big. Yes, but that did not happen in this match but I think there is no need to worry more about it.”.
“I have seen that the players work hard to implement their plans. All strategic aspects have been discussed between us and I will focus on that.”
Rohit’s batting struggle continues in BGT
In the last six Tests, Rohit himself has scored runs at an average of just 11.83. Virat Kohli has scored runs at an average of just 26.25 in the last seven matches. The next Test is to be held in Brisbane where the pitch is fast and bouncy. In such a situation, the challenge is not going to be easy in the BGT series which is tied at 1-1.
“Whatever the situation, we will try our best to fight it. In Perth, (Yashasvi) Jaiswal and KL (Rahul) did the same in a partnership of 200 runs. He wasn’t just swinging his bat, KL took almost 200 (176) balls to score 70 (77).
Jaiswal himself, known for his aggressive style, took 300 (297) balls to score 150 (161). In Perth, we did not carry the burden of the first innings in the second innings and we made a big score by making a fresh start.”
In bowling also, the Indian team has heavily relied on Jasprit Bumrah, who has picked up the maximum 12 wickets in this BGT series so far at an average of 11.25. But as Rohit himself said, he cannot bowl from both ends.
Mohammad Siraj and Harshit Rana supported him in Perth, but Rana did not look in rhythm in Adelaide and gave 86 runs in 16 overs at an economy of 5.37.
When Rohit was asked about the possibility of Akash Deep getting a chance in place of Rana in the next Test, he said, “Rana did nothing wrong in the first Test, he gave important breakthroughs.
I think if the player has not done anything wrong then he should not be dropped because if this happens then how will the other members of the team feel safe? They will think ‘We get a chance in one match and are kept out in the other’. This is not right for any player or team.”
“We have to see what the situation is and then we will take a decision. But it is not right to judge a player on the basis of his performance in just one match. We keep the option of playing any player open because we want to win the match and if we have to make changes for this, we will do it.
But I think he has not done anything wrong. He took three-four wickets in the practice match and also looked in form. This happens many times – he came to bowl to those batsmen who put pressure on him. We have to back such players.”
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