Rohit Sharma will be leading India in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC 2023) final against Australia at the Oval in London from June 7-11 and Sanjay Manjrekar spoke about the form of the Indian captain ahead of the summit clash.
The 36-year-old star opener had a disappointing IPL 2023 campaign; while he did steer the Mumbai Indians into playoffs, Rohit's performances with the bat left much to be desired. In 16 matches for the side, Rohit scored 332 runs at a poor average of 20.75, and a strike rate of 132.80.
But former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar believes team's management shouldn't worry about Rohit's performance because the opener enjoys playing Test cricket.
“Keep his IPL form aside because he looked out of form in the last IPL as well… we saw the amazing batting he did in the first Test match against Australia. I believe the stage of his career Rohit Sharma is in, Test cricket seems to be the most exciting format for him just like it has always been for Virat Kohli,” Manjrekar told Star Sports.
“His batting has become almost faultless in Test cricket at the moment. There is just one problem we have seen in Test matches - he gets out while playing the pull shot at times. They have bowled him a short ball and kept a fielder there. That is an instinctive shot,” he added.
Manjrekar, then, went on to explain how Rohit uses his follow-through to power his pull shot.
“If you see in ODI cricket, his pull shot is extremely interesting. His back lift doesn't come from the top, so that he can play the ball down. He has a very low back lift, he just picks up the ball and the bat then goes behind his back in the follow-through to give the power,” said Manjrekar.
India will be looking for their first ICC title since the 2013 Champions Trophy win.
