India skipper Rohit Sharma returned to the playing XI for the second Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test against Australia in Adelaide, but failed to make a mark with the bat.
Rohit, who missed the first Test in Perth due to paternity leave, returned with scores of 3 and 6 as India lose the match by 10 wickets.
However, former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden finds no flaw with Rohit’s technique as the latter was dismissed by unplayable deliveries.
Hayden also spoke about Rohit's exceptional batting style, highlighting that he has more time to play his shots compared to most batters and describing his approach as if he's "sitting on a leather lounge chair."
"One remark quickly on Rohit Sharma. He plays cricket like he's sitting on a leather lounge chair and reclining with a cup of coffee in his hands. You've got to admire the different styles that arrive at Test cricket. Virat Kohli, very hard at the ball, a busy player, really wants to get amongst it. Rohit Sharma's too easy. He's more in the category of the Mark Waugh's, the Shubman Gills. They make cricket look easy. It's very easy for us that makes it as well to make the comments around, well, that was a soft way to get out. But it's the one thing that we actually admire the most about someone like Rohit Sharma who seemingly does have a lot of time to play," Hayden said on Star Sports.
"Folks, don't be too disappointed. He got an absolute jaffer of a delivery. In fact, he got a great sequence of deliveries in the short time that he was out there under these lights. And I've watched pink ball Test matches as we all have closely for a number of years here. And when it comes to the night game with the new pink ball, it is horrendous. It's so technically difficult. It exposes everyone and anyone," he added.
In Rohit’s absence, KL Rahul opened the innings along with Yashasvi Jaiswal in Perth. The pair of Rahul and Jaiswal stitched a double-century stand as openers in Perth’s second innings to set up India’s 295-run victory, making a strong case to retain their partnership.
While it might be a temporary measure, Rohit moved down to No. 6 for the pink-ball Test and allowed Rahul to bat at the top.
With the five-match series level at 1-1, the two teams will now travel to Brisbane for the third Test, starting December 14.
