Sunil Gavaskar, former captain of the Indian cricket team, felt that Rohit Sharma being pushed down to play at number three in the New Zealand match on Sunday was a very clear indication that the management was not confident and did not trust the right-handed opener to effectively counter the in-swing of Trent Boult.
Rohit Sharma is among the best players in white ball cricket and is currently in line to lead Team India after Captain Virat Kohli bows out at the end of the ongoing T20 World Cup. Instead of Sharma, Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul was the two batsman that opened for India last Sunday.
During India’s first match with arch rivals Pakistan, Rohit, who is known to be vulnerable to the incoming ball, was dismissed for a duck by Shaheen Afridi.
After India’s inability to set a higher target, New Zealand successfully chased down the score in 14.3 over, resulting to another loss for Team India.
“Ishan Kishan is a hit or miss player and it is better if a batsman like him walks in No.4 or 5. He could then play according to the situation of the game. Now what has happened is that Rohit Sharma has been told that we don’t trust you to face the left-arm fast bowling of Trent Boult”, told Gavaskar to ‘India Today’.
Ishan Kishan, who was originally picked in the squad as only a reserve opener, came to open along with KL Rahul, whereas Rohit Sharma moved down to third spot and Virat Kohli batted at four.
Gavaskar expressed his disagreement with the changes made to the batting order. “I don’t know if it is a fear of failure but I know that whatever changes they made to the batting order today did not work. Rohit Sharma is a great batsman and he has been sent in at No.3, Virat Kohli demoted himself too and played at No.3. A young player like Kishan has been given the responsibility of opening the batting”, he added.
With two consecutive losses, India’s fate at the T20 tournament no longer lies in there own hands.
They now face Afghanistan on Wednesday, 3 November. There performance in the upcoming match is extremely crucial as it determines whether they still stand a fighting chance at the World Cup.
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