Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan believes that Rohit Sharma can have a similar impact like Virender Sehwag in the Test cricket following his impressive comeback to the longest format last year.
The right-hander has started his Test career in 2013 as a middle-order batsman, but he could not deliver to the extent people expect out of him. However, following his brilliant ODI show last year, which saw him score 1490 runs, including five centuries at the 2019 World Cup, Rohit was elevated to the top of the order and opener grabbed the opportunity with both hands against South Africa.
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The Mumbai batsman has scored 529 runs, including maiden double Test ton – which made him the first-ever batsman to score two centuries on debut as a Test opener, in the three-match Test series against South Africa in October 2019 and another 27 against Bangladesh.
Pathan said on the Cricket Connected Show on Star Sports: “We also got to see the double-century in Test cricket that we had already seen in ODIs when he came as an opener. The more matches he will play in the coming years, subject to his keeping fit, he can have a similar impact like Virender Sehwag.
Last two years we have seen a different kind of Rohit Sharma, the guy who wants to score a hundred after a hundred. That will help him to do really well in Test cricket for the next few years.”
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The former all-rounder also ranked Rohit as one of his top-3 ODI openers of all time, saying the latter’s success in the white-ball cricket could saw him achieve greater heights in the Test cricket as well.
Pathan added, “We have seen that recently when he started playing as an opener in Test cricket. The whole career of Rohit Sharma in Test cricket looks different now. Because when he was a middle-order batsman in Test cricket, he was not performing to the extent we expect out of him.”
However, he admitted that Rohit may not attain a Sehwag-like success in the longest format of the game as the current opener has played just 32 Tests as compared to the former opener’s 104 matches.
He concluded, “There will be always a question on longevity because Sehwag has played 100 Test matches. Rohit Sharma is a champion in ODI cricket, he will be in my top 3 openers of ODI history. If we talk of Test matches, he will be a little behind because he may not be able to play that many matches.”
(With Star Sports Inputs)
