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Gautam Gambhir had recently defended Rohit Sharma’s underwhelming scores by claiming it’s the impact that matters.
Rohit Sharma is yet to register a fifty in the ongoing Champions Trophy. (AP Photo)
India have entered the final of another ICC event and they will face New Zealand in the title clash of the Champions Trophy on Sunday. While the team continues to win plaudits for its all-round performance in the competition, their captain and maverick opener Rohit Sharma has faced criticism for not being able to convert his starts.
Rohit’s 104 runs from four innings have come at a strike-rate of 107.21 and his aggressive approach means he often ends up throwing away his wicket. India head coach Gautam Gambhir has defended his captain claiming that the team management isn’t bothered about stats and instead judges a player by his impact.
Batting legend Sunil Gavaskar though has a different opinion as he feels that if Rohit manages to stay long at the crease, he could help his team put up scores in excess of 300.
“(If) He (Rohit Sharma) bats for even 25 overs, India will be around 180-200. Imagine if they have lost only a couple of wickets by then; just think what they could do. They could reach 350 or more,” Gavaskar told India Today.
“He also needs to give it some thought. It’s one thing to go out and play aggressively, but there has to be a bit of discretion somewhere to give himself the chance to bat for 25-30 overs. If he does that, he takes the game away from the opposition. That kind of impact is match winning,” he added.
Rohit’s highest score at the ongoing competition is 41 that he made
against Bangladesh in the India’s opening clash in Dubai. Since then he has scored 20 (vs Pakistan), 15 (vs New Zealand) and 28 (vs Australia).
Gavaskar says Rohit shouldn’t be happy scoring 25-30 runs.
“And I think, as a batter, are you happy with scoring 25-30 runs? You shouldn’t be! So that is what I would say to him: your impact on the team will be even greater if you bat for 25 overs instead of just seven, eight, or nine overs,” Gavaskar said.
- Location :
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE)
