Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri wants Rohit Sharma to be more involved and animated for the rest of the series against Australia. Shastri said a counter-punch is always around the corner when India and Australia are facing each other in the red-ball version.
While India won the opening Test match against Australia at Perth by 295 runs, the home team bounced back to win the second Test at Adelaide Oval by 10 wickets.
Meanwhile, Rohit was making a comeback into the team after missing the opening Test for the birth of his second child. Rohit could not lead from the front as he returned with scores of 3 and 6 in the second Test match while batting at number six. Rohit also looked a bit off-color as a leader as he looked a bit defensive.
Ravi Shastri said on air while doing his commentary stint, “Just wanted to see him more involved, and a little more animated. You still have to believe that you can bounce back in this series. You have seen with these two teams, that the counter-punch is almost immediate. It’s happened over the last 10 years. You lose one, you win the next, but you have to have the belief.”
Shastri wants Rohit to go back to his opening slot after batting in the middle order in the second Test. Rohit had sacrificed his batting position for KL Rahul, who had returned with scores of 26 and 77 in the opening Test.
“That’s the reason I want him at the top [as opener]. That’s where he can be aggressive and expressive. Just thought he was a little too subdued, just seeing his body language. The fact that he didn’t make runs, I don’t think there was enough on the field there,” he added.
“I like the choice of words by Pat Cummins in Perth. He said we weren’t good enough, but we weren’t as bad as the scoreboard showed. The reason I say good choice of words is because it wasn’t about what people said or what was written about, it was about what the scoreboard showed. I think India can take a leaf out of that.”
On the other hand, Sunil Gavaskar added Rohit’s feet were not moving the way they should have been moving and wants the Indian captain to do some exercise before coming to the middle.
“I think the feet aren’t moving as they should. He needs to do a little bit of exercise before coming to the crease and try to get some circulation going in the legs.”
“He has always been a slow starter as far as feet movement is concerned. It’s not just a recent problem. The older you get, the more pronounced it becomes,” he added.
The third Test match between India and Australia will be played at the Gabba, Brisbane from December 14.
