T20 World Cup 2022: "Rohit Sharma of late hasn't scored with the same capability that we know" - Sunil Gavaskar express concern over Indian opener's lack of runs
Legendary Indian batter Sunil Gavaskar has advised Indian skipper Rohit Sharma to score quick-fire runs in the remaining matches of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2022.
Sharma didn't have a great start to the showpiece event against Pakistan on October 23 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. In the second innings, after India were asked to chase a moderate target of 160, the openers crumbled under pressure in a high-voltage clash.
Just after Pakistan pacer Naseem Shah cleaned up KL Rahul in the second over, Rohit briefly followed his opening partner. He nicked one at first slip to Iftikhar Ahmed, who took a stunning low catch off a Haris Rauf 145kph delivery.
Both Indian openers could contribute four runs each before leaving the team in a muddle. However, India pulled off a spectacular final-ball victory in their first match against Pakistan to secure two points.
Rohit's 14 out of 22 dismissals in 2022 have been in the powerplay overs, where he has scored 388 runs at a strike rate of 142.12. Surprisingly, the Indian opener struck at 151.46 in 2021 (259 runs in 11 innings, 4 dismissals) and 159.18 in 2020 (78 runs in 4 innings, 2 dismissals).
While expressing his concerns over the diminishing returns by the Indian captain in recent times, Sunil Gavaskar told Sports Today:
"The only concern really has been that Rohit Sharma of late hasn't scored with the same capability that we know him to do. If he gets going then he makes life really easy for the batsman to follow."
Gavaskar believes that Rohit and Rahul need to set the momentum for the middle order by accelerating the tempo of their innings at the start.
"A good platform is what everybody looks at. You give a good platform a good start then it makes it easier for somebody coming down at No.4 or 5, or even at No.3, to be able to start hitting from the first ball," Gavaskar said.
He further added:
"They don't have to give themselves time to settle in. They don't have to give themselves to steady the ship like India had to do against Pakistan when they were four wickets down for 31. So if you even get to a slightly slower start in the first six overs, maybe get to 40 but lose just one wicket. That is a good platform and a much better platform than 31 for four."
"Consistency is not always going to be there": Sunil Gavaskar on openers' form
"There have been accusations against the Indian openers for not maintaining consistency with their scoring rate of late. However, Gavaskar ruled out the notion of consistency in a demanding format like T20.
The legendary cricketer backed the Indian openers regarding their consistency aspect by saying:
"Consistency is never going to be there as far as T20 format is concerned. Because the batsman has to take risk from the first ball and in that he can lose his wicket. So consistency is not always going to be there, but what is more important is one of them sticks around and that helps quite a bit."
India will play their second game of the T20 World Cup versus the Netherlands on Thursday, October 27, at the Sydney Cricket Ground.