Rohit Sharma proved his critics wrong with his heroics in the recent Test series against England, which was his first in the country as an opener. The Mumbaikar scored 368 runs in four matches at an impressive average of 52.57 including a hundred and two half-centuries.
Rohit curbed his attacking instincts and showed tremendous patience to blunt the new ball on most occasions in swinging conditions and displayed temperament to score runs on bad balls on offer.
Former India opener Aakash Chopra heaped praise on Rohit and said that the batsman had displayed a lot of courage to make radical changes in the way he plays.
"It took courage to make the radical changes to his game that we saw him make in England. While Rohit batted the way he was expected to bat in India in Tests, he changed his game radically to meet the demands of English conditions. He went against his natural instinct, which is to attack at the first opportune moment,” Aakash Chopra wrote for ESPNCricinfo.
"Rohit's attempt to play a totally different brand of cricket to that with which he got all his international success reflected two things: nurture is as influential as nature, if not more; and he has a burning desire to succeed in Tests," he added.
Rohit was seen as a very talented young batsman and entered international cricket in 2007. However, it was only in 2013 when he started opening in white-ball cricket that his career took an upward shift.
Chopra said that the 34-year old was determined to succeed in Test cricket and appreciated him for bringing such a big change in his game at this stage of his career.
"He knew that this English summer had the potential to define his legacy as a Test cricketer. And it is remarkable that standing at such a crucial juncture so far into his career, he had the conviction to remould his game so drastically that he looked like a different batter altogether.
"In England this summer Rohit seems to have taken a giant leap towards writing his legacy, an effort born of his love for the longer format," Chopra concluded.
The five match Test series came to a sudden stop last week after a few of Team India’s support staff tested positive for COVID-19. India led the series 2-1.
(With ESPNCricinfo inputs)
