"Rohit Sharma will be more disappointed with himself than we are" - Zaheer Khan on Sharma's dismissal
Former Indian pacer Zaheer Khan has opined that Rohit Sharma would be even more disappointed than the fans for the shot he played to get dismissed on the second day of the Brisbane Test against Australia. However, the Indian vice-captain mentioned in the post-match press conference that he does not regret playing that shot.
Rohit Sharma was looking comfortable in the middle after having successfully negotiated the threat of the new ball. But he lofted Nathan Lyon to long-on for Mitchell Starc to take a well-judged catch. Sharma was dismissed after scoring 44 runs.
During a discussion on the Sony Sports network, Zaheer Khan and Sanjay Manjrekar shared their views on Rohit Sharma's untimely dismissal. Khan said that Rohit Sharma will be unhappy with himself as he was primed to play a huge knock after being well-set in the middle.
"The disappointment is because he was batting so well. He will be more disappointed with himself than we are because once you get such a good start you expect from a player like Rohit Sharma, you hope that he will score a big hundred and he is that type of a player."
Zaheer Khan added that Nathan Lyon would consider himself lucky to have dismissed Sharma in this fashion after having been hit for a boundary earlier in the same over.
"He had put pressure on Nathan Lyon. In the same over, he had hit a four when Nathan Lyon had missed his length, so he had put the pressure on the bowlers. I feel it was a sigh of relief for Nathan Lyon that his day was successful and it became a little easier for him."
"When an experienced player like Rohit Sharma gets out like that, it hurts India even more" - Sanjay Manjrekar
Sanjay Manjrekar was also asked to compare today's dismissal with Sharma's previous dismissal by Lyon on India's last tour of Australia. He responded that this was a more mature version of Sharma who knows how to build his innings.
Yes, he was caught at square leg at that time and he was even dropped before that, playing a lofted shot. But that was a different Rohit Sharma. The way we saw him today, he was defensive and playing with a calm attitude."
Manjrekar added that losing Rohit Sharma in this manner will be a huge blow to India's aspirations in this Test match.
"When an experienced player gets out like that in this team where there is a shortage of experience, then it hurts India even more."
Rohit Sharma had shown the ability to play the long innings in India's last home season in 2019. But he has flattered to deceive in the three knocks he has played in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy so far.
While he has got off to good starts on each occasion, he has literally thrown away his wicket to hand over the advantage back to Australia.