It will hurt Rohit Sharma a lot as he lost his wicket after getting set: Zaheer Khan
Former pacer Zaheer Khan has opined that Rohit Sharma's dismissal in India's first innings of the Sydney Test would have disappointed him a lot as he had already got his eye in and should have gone on to play a substantial knock.
Rohit Sharma was caught and bowled by Josh Hazlewood after scoring 26 runs and being involved in a 70-run partnership with Shubman Gill for the first wicket.
During a discussion on the Sony Sports network, Zaheer Khan was asked if Rohit Sharma had looked comfortable in the middle, although he was playing Test cricket after a long time. Sharma had stitched a useful partnership with Shubman Gill up until his dismissal.
The former left-arm pacer responded by saying that the Indian vice-captain was expected to look good considering his experience. Zaheer Khan added that Shubman Gill deserves more praise for the promising start he has made to his career and the composure he has displayed.
"He has so much experience that if he is ready and playing, he will look comfortable. Yes, Shubman Gill is a young player who has just started his journey in international cricket, he has shown very good progress and temperament," said Zaheer Khan
Zaheer Khan lauded Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill for laying a solid platform for the Indian innings, something both sides had failed to do thus far in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
"He definitely got the support of Rohit. We have not seen the opening partnerships from both teams. So you can say that is a positive," added Khan
Rohit Sharma had played out the difficult period - Zaheer Khan
Zaheer Khan pointed out that Rohit Sharma will be unhappy to have gotten dismissed after having successfully negotiated the threat of the new ball.
"But somewhere or the other, Rohit Sharma will be thinking that he had played out the difficult period and done the hard work by playing out the new ball, so any batsman, especially if you are someone like Rohit Sharma, it will hurt him a lot," said Khan
He added that Rohit Sharma would be even more disappointed with the manner of his dismissal as it was not a wicket-taking delivery.
"If you have lost your wicket after getting set, it hurts more. If you come at the start and get out, the batsman doesn't feel that sad but when you get out after setting a platform like this and especially the way he got out caught and bowled, you don't want to get out that way," added Zaheer Khan
Zaheer Khan signed off by stating that Rohit Sharma would not have felt bad if he had got out to an unplayable delivery, which was not the case here.
"It's okay if you get a good ball and go back to the dressing room and say that it was a good ball and he couldn't do anything. He was batting well and I felt he will definitely score, so he will be more upset," concluded Khan
Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill were looking comfortable in the middle, with none of the Aussie bowlers causing them much trouble. The only moment of concern was when Sharma was given out caught at short-leg off Nathan Lyon's bowling, which was successfully overturned on review.
Just when the partnership was looking threatening for the Aussies, Rohit Sharma chipped a tame catch back to bowler Josh Hazlewood.
Shubman Gill also departed soon thereafter. However, the youngster did reach his maiden Test fifty as India finished the second day of the Sydney Test at 96/2, still trailing the hosts by 242 runs.