Before the series decider against England at Lord’s, India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak backed Rohit Sharma. Kotak believes the former India captain can play a memorable innings at the top in the third and final ODI of the series, thus Rohit, who hasn’t impressed in the previous two games, will strive to show off his best bat skills again.
It is not surprising that Rohit will face high expectations in the upcoming encounter, despite the fact that discussions regarding his likely retirement from international cricket were later dismissed by India’s Board of Control for Cricket (BCCI).
Despite the expectations of the dressing room and the audience, Sitanshu Kotak believes a player like Rohit will not feel the heat.
“I don’t think a big player like Rohit Sharma can handle any kind of pressure. He’s too talented a player to feel that way. Yes, he didn’t get any runs in the first two matches, but I don’t think it matters.
However, it appeared today that he might be able to pitch a decent inning. But that’s fine,” Sitanshu Kotak stated during the press conference.
“To be honest, I’ve played and watched a lot of cricket. On any given day, I’ve seen a number of batters who don’t get the momentum they need, and this may happen. “You might see a completely different innings from Rohit Sharma at Lord’s,” he said.
Sitanshu Kotak believes Rohit’s troubles in the first few games were purely due to his not receiving balls in his slot, despite the fact that most people believe he fought hard.
He went on to say that even the world’s best hitters can suffer it, and Rohit is just one recent example. This reinforced his conviction in the experienced opener’s capacity to produce a huge innings at cricket’s home ground.
“So, I wouldn’t use the word’struggling’, but maybe the shots he normally plays are on the up and all, which is because of the double bounce; probably he felt it was not comfortable, and Shubman Gill got a quick start, then Virat Kohli got a quick start, but he didn’t get balls in his slot, or he didn’t get going.”
“I wouldn’t say, because you could see a completely different innings from a player like Rohit, and I think that happens to a lot of batters.” So it wasn’t only Rohit, who was, I wouldn’t say struggling,” the Men in Blue’s batting coach concluded.
The third and final One-Day International (ODI) between India and England will take place on Sunday, July 19, at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London.
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