Former Indian batsman VVS Laxman felt the few misunderstandings between Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul may have caused the senior opener to lose his focus, as the latter has yet again failed to convert his brilliant start to the big one in the ongoing first Test against England on Thursday (August 5).
On Day 2 of the ongoing first Test at Trent Bridge, Rohit and Rahul gave Team India a terrific start, adding 97 runs for the first wicket and it seemed everything was going on the track, but Ollie Robinson gave England a breakthrough by dismissing the opener in the 37th over on Thursday.
The right-hander (36) played the pull shot and was caught out by Sam Curran in the deep off the bowling of Robinson with Rohit's dismissal triggering a mini-collapse from 97/0 to 112/4 with the India cricket team losing four wickets for the next 15 runs before rain stopped play at Trent Bridge.
Laxman pointed out that the two openers were involved in a bit of confusion while running between the wickets on Day 2 with Rohit escaping a narrow run-out chance, which may have led to a lapse in his concentration and he eventually threw his wicket away.
Talking about Rohit Sharma’s dismissal on ESPNCricinfo, Laxman said: “The pull shot is one of the most productive ones for Rohit Sharma. He does not get into a conventional position, which is why a majority of his pull shots end up going in the air. I just feel the concentration lapse would have happened because of that run-out chance.”
He continued, “And since that morning session started, there were at least two or three misunderstandings between Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. So maybe lack of focus led him to play that shot. But when you can pull like the way Rohit Sharma does, you have to back your natural instincts… Unfortunately, he just holed out to the fielder in the deep.”
Rohit failed to convert his 30s for the third consecutive innings in the Test cricket and the 46-year-old Laxman recalled how he had got a start earlier but couldn’t convert it into a big score despite putting up all the hard work before throwing his wicket away on the overseas conditions.
However, the batting legend is confident that Rohit will score big runs soon in the ongoing Test series in England.
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Laxman further explained, “It happened in Brisbane. He was looking to capitalize on the wonderful foundation he and Shubman Gill laid when they were chasing that target. We saw that in both innings of the World Test Championship (WTC) final. He did all the hard work when the conditions were suitable for the New Zealand bowlers and then played at a ball that was wide outside the off stump.”
He signed off by saying, “In the second innings, he got out leaving a ball, which he was supposed to play. It can be termed as a pattern. Having said that, Rohit Sharma will be pleased with the way he applied himself. He wants to prove that he is a more than capable batsman in overseas conditions. I think he will definitely convert these starts to big scores in the coming innings.”
(With ESPNCricinfo Inputs)
