Rohit Sharma is yet to open his account in the ongoing T20I series against Afghanistan.
Playing his first T20I series after a gap of 14 months, Rohit hasn't opened his account so far. While the right-handed opener got run out for a two-ball duck in the series opener against Afghanistan in Mohali, he was cleaned up by Fazalhaq Farooqi for a golden duck in the second game.
After the hosts were asked to chase down 173, Rohit tried to take on Afghanistan’s pace spearhead right from the word go but failed miserably. Farooqi knocked over the Indian captain as the latter went for an almighty heave on the leg side.
"It was extremely surprising the way Rohit got out. He was playing just his first ball. He doesn't play such shots. The ball went and hit his stumps. He got run out in the last match and was bowled for zero in this match. He hasn't scored a single run in this series thus far," Chopra was quoted as saying on his YouTube channel.
With the fast-approaching IPL 2024 and the T20 World Cup, Chopra said Rohit needs to find his feet at the earliest. However, he doesn’t expect the seasoned campaigner to change his attacking approach.
"Run-out was not his mistake but the shot selection definitely was. There is no doubt about Rohit Sharma's form and ability. However, he will have to be in form in the IPL and I feel he will bat like this only. We need 38-40, the runs he was scoring in the ODI World Cup, from his bat," he added.
India won the second T20I by six wickets to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. The dead-rubber third T20I will be played in Bangalore on Wednesday (January 17).