"The footwork is palpably slow to start with" - Sunil Gavaskar on Rohit Sharma's dismissal in the Australia clash of 2023 World Cup
Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar felt that Rohit Sharma's slow footwork makes him vulnerable to incoming deliveries after the batter was dismissed for a duck in the opening 2023 World Cup clash against Australia.
Rohit was dismissed LBW for a six-ball duck to begin his World Cup campaign, with pacer Josh Hazlewood jagging a delivery back into him. Despite Rohit being one of the three top-order batters to be out for a duck, Team India bounced back to complete a 200-run chase by six wickets in the 42nd over.
In his column for the Sportstar, Gavaskar wrote:
"In the last tournament in 2019, Rohit Sharma hit five centuries and a few half-centuries too. This time around, which could well be his last World Cup, he has begun with a zero in the first game. The footwork is palpably slow to start with, and that makes him vulnerable to the incoming delivery. If he can rediscover the 2019 form, then India will be assured of a very good start to their campaign."
Rohit was the leading run-scorer in the 2019 World Cup with 648 runs, including a world record of five centuries and a half-century in nine games.
The champion batter was in excellent form coming into this World Cup, scoring half-centuries in four of his previous five innings.
"India will be sweating on the recovery of the in-form Shubman Gill" - Sunil Gavaskar
Sunil Gavaskar admitted that Team India will be worried about the illness of Shubman Gill and wished for the opening batter to recover completely by the Pakistan clash.
The 24-year-old suffered from dengue two days before India's World Cup opener against Australia and is currently hospitalized in Chennai. Following his absence against the Aussies, Gill will also miss Team India's next match against Afghanistan on Wednesday, October 11.
"India will be sweating on the recovery of the in-form Shubman Gill," Gavaskar said. "If they can get him on the ground for the game against Pakistan, then they will breathe a lot easier. The young man has been in splendid form, and before the tournament started, there was speculation about whether he could keep the form going and get past the record of Sachin Tendulkar for the most runs in ODIs in a calendar year."
Gill has been in red-hot form this year, especially in ODIs, scoring 1230 runs in 20 games at an extraordinary average of 72.35, including five centuries. He is less than 700 runs away from Sachin Tendulkar's record for most ODI runs (1894) in a calendar year.
"Missing any games will not help, of course, but then Gill has the ability and, more importantly, the hunger for centuries and runs that can get him close to, if not overhaul Sachin’s mark," Gavaskar added.
Shubman Gill was the Player of the Series in India's 2-1 win against Australia at home heading into the World Cup, with a century and a half-century.
Following the Afghanistan clash, the Men in Blue take on arch-rivals Pakistan in a highly-anticipated game in Ahmedabad on Saturday, October 14.