T20 World Cup 2022: "He hasn't looked good at all" - Aakash Chopra on Rohit Sharma's batting in the tournament
Aakash Chopra has pointed out that Rohit Sharma didn't look good at all with the bat throughout the T20 World Cup 2022.
India were eliminated from the tournament after a 10-wicket loss to England in the second semi-final in Adelaide on Thursday, November 10. The Indian skipper scored a painstaking 27 off 28 deliveries in India's total of 168/6, which was chased down easily by the England openers.
While reviewing India's batting performance in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra highlighted Rohit's travails with the willow in hand, saying:
"KL Rahul - five runs off five balls. Rohit Sharma - 27 runs off 28 balls. Rohit Sharma's bat hasn't fired. We were talking about Babar and Temba Bavuma, if we are talking about everyone then why not Rohit? He hasn't looked good at all while batting."
The former Indian cricketer added that the opener struggled to find the middle of his bat on Thursday. He elaborated:
"The boundaries were short but it didn't seem like that when Rohit was playing. The ball hit high on the bat many times. He got dismissed by bouncers at times and here he was dismissed by Chris Jordan. On average, we score six runs per over in the first six overs."
On the flip side, Chopra praised Hardik Pandya for playing a blazing knock and Virat Kohli for holding the innings together. He observed:
"There were seven overs of spin in which they conceded just 41 runs. We hit the spinners at less than run-a-ball. Kohli scored a good half-century, it was not outstanding but he did his job. Hardik Pandya was sensational, he looked like taking India to 185, but that didn't happen."
Pandya smashed 63 runs off 33 balls, a knock studded with four fours and five sixes. Kohli scored a 40-ball 50, with the help of four fours and a six.
"They had to score 200 runs" - Aakash Chopra questions India's batting approach
Chopra highlighted that the Men in Blue never tried to post a 200-run total, which was required on the batting-friendly surface. He said:
"It is a worldwide truth that whether India or England batted first, they had to score 200 runs because the pitch was good for batting. At least try to reach there but we were going at run-a-ball."
Chopra added that the much-spoken-about aggressive template was not evident. The renowned commentator stated:
"We were playing run-a-ball earlier, doing that today and will probably do that tomorrow as well. The template, which was spoken about for such a long time, was not seen. The commitment to the cause and passion was not seen. The batting looked extremely ordinary. The intent was missing."
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India scored only 100 runs in the first 15 overs of their innings. They did score 68 off the last five overs, primarily due to Pandya's blitzkrieg, but the 169-run target did not pose a challenge to the England openers.