ENG v IND 2021: Gavaskar says many more hundreds coming for Rohit as he has realized his responsibility

Rohit Sharma scored 127 runs in the second innings of the ongoing fourth Test.

Rohit Sharma celebrates his hundred with Cheteshwar Pujara | GETTY

India opener Rohit Sharma has been outstanding with the bat on England tour and he finally reached the much-awaited three-figure mark on Day 3 of the fourth Test. Rohit smashed his maiden overseas Test century and played a vital 127-run knock at The Oval.

India cricket great Sunil Gavaskar was pleased with the batting display by Rohit and he lauded him for the knock in the second innings. The India opener has scored 36, 12, 83, 21, 19, 59, 11, and 127 in the Test series so far.

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"Incredible knock. Very, very impressive, for the simple reason that the way he was covering the swing when the ball was new. Not just here, but even in the earlier matches. The way he was playing very late, the way he had the bat and pad close to each other… not pushing at deliveries.

"Once he settled down, then all the shots began to flow. But then the most impressive thing is the straightness of his bat when he's defending. Then of course the use of his feet to get to his Test century," he said on the Sony Sports Network.

Gavaskar liked the way Rohit adjusted his batting for Test cricket which helped him succeed on the tour. The 34-year-old has a variety of shots, but he managed to pick the correct shots for the occasion.

"Once he got to fifty, he opened up. He's widened the range of his shots. He's played the V, played the cuts and the sweep shot. That's exactly how a Test match innings has to be built. That is the biggest challenge of players of his genius. For someone like him or GR Viswanath, or Azharuddin… they all had different options for deliveries. They could play on the on the side and the off side, but then to curb that and play what is needed for the occasion is very important and that’s what he's done today," he added.

The legendary ex-India cricketer is expecting the Mumbai batsman to come up with many more centuries in the coming matches. "He's shown to himself that he can do that. Many more on the way. He has realised I need to play more than those lovely cameos, those lovely 30s, 40s. 

"Mind you, even in T20s, he was scoring heaps of runs, getting 70s, 80s, 100s over there as well, because he realised, he has to bat and take the responsibility and bat throughout 20 overs," Gavaskar pointed out.

(With Sony Sports Network Inputs)

 
 

By - 05 Sep, 2021

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