Rohit Sharma only needs to be cautious for first half hour in Australia to be successful, says Nasser Hussain
Rohit Sharma.
Former England skipper Nasser Hussain believed that Rohit Sharma had all the ability to become successful as a Test opener in Australia provided that he saw out the first 30 minutes with the new ball. In his first Test series as an opener, Rohit Sharma scored three centuries against South Africa, one of which was a double century.
As he missed the New Zealand tour due to a calf injury, the Test series against Australia would be an important one for Rohit Sharma in the bid to cement his place at the top of the order in the longest format.
Nasser Hussain advised Rohit Sharma to take inspiration from fellow teammate and Indian skipper Virat Kohli. Virat Kohli himself had problems against the swinging ball in England in 2014.
But he went back, worked on his basics, and came back to England after four years and scored two centuries. Nasser Hussain believed that a successful Test cricketer was the one who respected the conditions and adapted accordingly.
"Test match cricket at the top of the order is about having time, it's about having a technique as well. You have to cover your off stump, like Virat did in England against Anderson, the way he left him outside after all his problems of the previous tour, that is a Test match cricketer. And that's the only thing Rohit has to do when he goes away from home and when he is moving around. He has to just spend half an hour and say to the bowler you can have this half hour. I'm going to leave you, I'm going to take the slip cordon out of play," Nasser Hussain said on Sony Ten's chat show Pit Stop.
One of the major things associated with Virat Kohli's team especially in the longest format is the constant chopping and changing that takes place.
For instance, in the first Test at Edgbaston against England in 2018, Cheteshwar Pujara was dropped and that decision proved to be very costly in the end as India lost that Test by 31 runs. Later it was Cheteshwar Pujara who was the difference between India and Australia as his heroics with the bat helped India clinch their first ever series win Down Under.
Thus, Nasser Hussain wanted the Indian team to learn a lesson and persist with certain players.
"I think India need to select well because they have so many great batsmen so it's very easy that when Rohit doesn't do anything for two games, Prithvi Shaw will get in, and when he doesn't do well, someone else will get in. Select, stick by them and give them a long run. They are very fine players and eventually if you don't get runs in Australia then you've got a problem because like I say it is a good place to bat you will find out who your Test match players are in Australia," Nasser Hussain asserted.
