Melbourne: With captain Rohit Sharma struggling to find a way to score runs in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, former India coach Ravi Shastri says the stylish batsman must play with a clear mindset, change his tactics and attack the bowlers. Rohit missed the first Test Down Under to be with his family for the birth of his second child. He was expected to regain the opener’s spot but KL Rahul’s impressive 77 in India’s win in Perth changed the batting order and Rohit dropped to No.6. The change didn’t pay off for Rohit as he scored 10, 3 and 6 in the last three innings while Rahul made the most of the opportunity by scoring 84 in the first innings in the third Test in Brisbane. “I would like to see Rohit Sharma, his strategy has changed a bit because he can still be very dangerous at that number (six),” Shastri opined in the ICC review.
“I think he has to be very clear in his mindset to go out there and attack the opposition and not worry about anything else,” the cricketer-turned-commentator added. Shastri felt that Rohit should give up his defensive mentality. “The last thing you want is for him to be in two minds about defending or attacking. In his case, it has to be attack. He takes length quickly, he has to take the opponent to that number.
“Because if he gets away in the first 10-15 minutes, no way, he hasn’t gone through that 15-20 minutes, half an hour. So why don’t you play the natural game, go and take the attack. The opposition and take it from there?” Shastri felt that this was the best way for Rohit to return to form and win the match for India, adding that the world’s best No.6 batsmen have the ability to counter-attack.
“I think this is his best way, not only to return to form, but also to win the game for India. Because that number is an important number.” “The best No. 6 players in the world are guys who have the ability to counter-attack. They read the situation well. Yes, if there are many wickets, for a while. Be careful, but the intention should be sooner rather than later.
“Especially when you have that ability and especially when you open the batting for India and you have all the shots for Australia’s conditions.” Rohit made his Test debut in 2013, scoring a century on the occasion. After scoring two fifties so far in the five-Test series, Shastri backed Rahul to retain the opener’s spot in the fourth Test.
Shastri said, “I asked him (Rohit) to open in the last Test match (Brisbane) but the way Rahul batted, it was fun to watch and the way he batted, I believe he hit the purple patch. is.” . Shastri said, “It may be a position that he wants to maintain and improve the way he plays because his technique was flawless.” The former Indian captain said that Rahul was currently at the top of his game and his confidence level was also very high. “The way he left the ball, the way he let the ball come into the bat, his cover drives were as good as anybody in world cricket right now. And so I think when there’s a lot of confidence, you know, let it happen.”