India’s national cricket team started the ongoing three-match ODI series with a thrilling six-wicket win over England, but Rohit Sharma’s poor performance with the bat has raised questions over his place in the team. Rohit Sharma could only score 11 runs in the first ODI at Edgbaston and now all eyes are on how he performs in the second match in Cardiff on July 16.
Former Indian assistant coach Abhishek Nair believes that Rohit will not take that dismissal lightly. He faced 21 balls before trying to play an aggressive shot against Sam Curran and had to walk off the field after scoring just 11 runs in the first ODI against England. Meanwhile, Aakash Chopra names the biggest problems of Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma before the 2027 World Cup.
Abhishek Nair explains Rohit Sharma’s biggest lesson from the first ODI
Ahead of the second ODI in Cardiff, Abhishek Nair shared that Rohit Sharma is a player who always studies his game after a bad innings. He also revealed that his close friends regularly watch videos of his batting to understand where he went wrong.
He believes that Rohit Sharma would have gone back after the match, looked at his innings carefully, understood his mistake and started making better plans for the next match.
Nair said that the biggest lesson for Rohit would be to give himself more time at the crease. He believes that if Rohit can safely get through the spells of Jofra Archer and Josh Tong, he can easily score runs in the later innings in the ongoing three-match ODI series. Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja’s play in the 2027 World Cup is doubtful amid Axar Patel’s rise.
Shubman Gill’s approach could help Rohit Sharma in Cardiff!!
“He will be disappointed with the way he got out. There will be reflection. He will go into the room and think about it. He watches a lot of videos, so he will watch his videos. He will focus on his mindset. If he had watched the T20 series and after playing this game, he would have realized one thing that you have to give yourself time,” Abhishek Nair said on JioHotStar’s ‘Game Plan’ show.
He further explained, “You have to play four or five overs of Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue. Once you get past that, things become easier. You have to find opportunities against Sam Curran. Using his legs to go over the top may not be the right strategic move. If he had watched Shubman Gill carefully, there would have been more runs in the square of the wicket.”
Abhishek Nair tells how Jofra Archer stunned Virat Kohli
The former India coach also talked about Virat Kohli’s dismissal in the first ODI. Kohli was beaten by a brilliant ball from Jofra Archer after the England pacer cleverly changed his length.
Nair feels that Archer’s delivery was very good. He said that Kohli’s batting position was correct and there was nothing wrong with his footwork or balance.
The former Indian cricketer said that the England fast bowler started with a short ball, misdirected that ball and the follow-up ball was very different.
And then because of the late seam movement on the fast ball it became very difficult to defend and that is why Archer managed to breach Kohli’s defence.
Nair signed off by saying, “Jofra Archer had that X-factor right there because of the seam he had, and that’s why he could really go to Virat Kohli’s defence. He gets out on the outside edge. One rarely gets Virat Kohli out on the inside edge.”