Former England captain Michael Atherton has backed India’s star opening batsman Rohit Sharma to translate his limited-overs success into Test cricket while hailing the cricketer as the best example of a naturally-gifted player.
The 33-year old is in prime form with the bat and he has successfully maintained it over the past few years and can easily be considered as one of the greatest white-ball batsmen in the world cricket, but when it comes to the Test cricket, he is yet to make a mark in whites for India.
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However, following his promotion to the top-order, Rohit’s fortunes turned around in whites, as the right-hander scored 556 runs in 6 innings as an opener since last October. He also managed to score a double hundred, but how he fares overseas is yet to be seen.
Well, Atherton, a well-known cricket commentator, has lauded Rohit and backed the star batsman to do well in the Test cricket as well, saying he can’t see any reason why he can’t replicate his limited-overs success in the Tests.
Atherton said on the Sony Ten Pit Stop Show: “I watch Rohit and think well you can’t be successful at Test level. He just looks such a good player that you’d think that success will come. The one thing I do enjoy watching and this is a general point about Indian batsmen is that they look very natural to me and not over-coached and forced or stilted.”
The Englishman has also recalled his interaction with Indian batting great Rahul Dravid when he asked him why Indian batsmen looked more natural than England's.
He revealed, “I was chatting to Rahul Dravid a couple of years ago. I was asking him why he felt that India’s players looked more natural and less forced than England’s at that level. He thought it was do with the fact that India’s cricketers all year around play, and because of the weather in England, a lot of English players spend six months indoors on bowling machines and it can look a bit forced after that... a bit overcoached.”
Former England opener also believes that there is no better example than Rohit of a natural batsman who does not look over-coached or forced or stilted.
Atherton signed off by saying, “He felt a lot of India’s young batsmen were learning in play rather than being coached personally. So, I always enjoy watching that about watching Indian batsmen, they look very natural and fluid and fluent and of course, no better example than Rohit Sharma.”
(With Hindustan Times Inputs)
