Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been one of the greatest batting duo Indian cricket has got in the modern-age. However, their recent form has been a bone of contention for cricket fans and analysts alike. Particularly, Kohli who has been visibly struggling with balls outside the off-stump. The former Indian captain has been a walking wicket for bowlers in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy and has been getting dismissed in a similar fashion over and over again.
Rohit Sharma on Virat Kohli’s struggle to tackle outside-off stump deliveries
Speaking about the recent average batting display from Kohli and particularly his struggles with 4th, 5th stump balls, Indian skipper Rohit has shown his support for the 36-year-old Indian batting wizard.
“You only said he is a modern-day great. Modern-day greats will figure out their way or the path,” said Rohit during a pre-match press conference at the MCG. Apart from a century at the Perth, Kohli’s performance in the test series so far has not been up to the mark. The former Indian captain has scored just 126 runs in 5 innings of the series so far with an average of 31.50.
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Rohit supports youngsters amidst batting-order speculations
The Indian skipper also talked about India’s batting order ahead of the Boxing Day Test match at Melbourne. The Indian batting has been below par and a number of batters have disappointed in the first three Test matches. Talking about the state of Indian batting, Rohit said, “Let’s not worry about that (the batting order). I think ‘who bats where?’ is something that we need to figure out within ourselves. It’s not something I should be discussing at every press conference. Whatever it takes for our team to look good or gives the best chance to succeed, we will do that.”
The Indian batters produced average performances throughout the series. Players like Shubhman Gill, Rishabh Pant and Yashshvi Jaiswal have disappointed the most with the bat. The Indian skipper however, had some other thoughts on these youngsters. Talking about their form, Rohit said, “See, as I told you, all these youngsters – Rishabh, Gill, Jaiswal, all these youngsters are in the same boat. We don’t want to complicate what they are doing. They know what they are expected to do. Our job here is to keep talking to them about small things like match awareness. I don’t think we need to tell them more and complicate stuff.”
The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is currently finely poised as both teams have won a Test match each. The third Test ended in a draw between the two sides. The Boxing Day Test is speculated to be the series decider before the final showdown between the two sides at Sydney.
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