Former Indian opener VVS Laxman believes Rohit Sharma will be disappointed with the timing of his dismissal. It has been noticed in the past that the Indian opener Rohit Sharma can be tentative in the start but he generally goes on to get a big score if he gets settled, especially in limited overs format.
However, Indian opener was able to get off to a good start and negated the new ball. Rohit was also able to play out the opening spell of Tim Southee and Trent Boult. Subsequently, he played some confident shots through the off side against Colin de Grandhomme, especially through the point region.
Rohit gave a perfect start to the team as he added 62 runs for the opening stand with Shubman Gill but was dismissed by Kyle Jamieson. The talisman didn’t get his front foot to the pitch of the ball and played away from the body to edge the ball to third slip, where Tim Southee took a good diving catch.
“Rohit as an opener has passed with flying colours, he is an attacking player but today he was compact. It was a wonderful display of caution and aggression from Rohit, but he will be disappointed with the way and the timing of his dismissal,” Laxaman said on Star Sports.
On the other hand, former England skipper Nasser Hussain praised Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill for playing the short ball with aplomb. In fact, Hussain stated that he can’t remember any other Indian openers being better pullers of the short ball than these two batsmen.
“I was just about to tweet that the Indian openers (Rohit Sharma & Shubman Gill) are giving a masterclass on how to bat in England conditions but they both got out. They played beautifully. Can’t remember India have had openers that have played the short balls better than these two,” Hussain said on the post lunch show on Star Sports.
The opening day belonged to India as they finished with 146-3 in 64.4 overs before bad light stopped play on Day 2. If India can score anywhere close to 300, they will be in a good position if the rain doesn’t play a spoilsport. Virat Kohli is batting on 44 whereas Ajinkya Rahane is unbeaten on 29.
