"This has not happened for the first time" - Aakash Chopra on Rohit Sharma's mode of dismissal in IND vs NZ 2024 2nd Test
Aakash Chopra has observed that the way Rohit Sharma got out in India's first innings of the second Test against New Zealand in Pune was similar to some of his recent dismissals. He reckons the dismissal cannot be attributed to an issue against Tim Southee as the Indian skipper got out similarly to Taskin Ahmed recently.
India bowled New Zealand out for 259 in their first innings on Thursday, October 24. The hosts ended Day 1 on 16/1, with Rohit being castled by Southee for a duck.
During a discussion on Colors Cineplex, Chopra was asked why Rohit is having problems against Southee, considering that the Kiwi seamer has dismissed him for the 14th time in international cricket.
"Of course, Tim Southee has dismissed him twice in this series, so it will seem like it's a problem against him. However, he got out similarly to Taskin (Ahmed). Remember, it was a similar ball, it was the Chennai ground, second innings and the catch went behind," he responded.
"There also we said that the ball was very good. If we compare with that, this ball didn't move that much sideways. This has not happened for the first time and has happened more in the recent past," the former India opener added.
Rohit Sharma was caught by Zakir Hasan at third slip off Taskin Ahmed's bowling in India's second innings of the Chennai Test against Bangladesh. He was caught by Najmul Hossain Shanto at second slip off Hasan Mahmud's bowling in the first innings of the same Test.
"The front foot is not going anywhere" - Aakash Chopra on Rohit Sharma's issue
In the same discussion, Aakash Chopra noted that Rohit Sharma's lack of front-foot movement is causing his body to open up.
"I think the issue, which Rohit will have to address himself, is that the front foot is not going anywhere. You are just standing in your crease and when the front foot is stuck and the back foot doesn't move, there can be only one reaction to the ball, that is your body will open up. When your body opens up like that, it looks bad as well," he elaborated.
The reputed commentator added that the Mumbaikar seemed to have addressed the issue in the second innings of the first Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru and might do so in the second essay in Pune as well.
"So he will have to address this, as he did in Bengaluru's second innings. He was taking his foot slightly more forward there as compared to the first innings. You might see him doing that here as well in the second innings but when he got out, the ball looked better than it actually was because the body had opened up," Chopra observed.
Rohit played a 52-run knock in India's second innings of the Bengaluru Test. It's the only time he has scored more than 25 runs in his last seven Test innings.