The ex-India star in question here is Ravi Shastri, who believes that Rohit should shun the defensive approach and bat with his natural attacking playstyle in the upcoming Australia Tests
India skipper Rohit Sharma has been struggling with his form especially in red-ball cricket as of recent. The batter wasn’t able to impress at all in both the Adelaide and Brisbane Tests and got dismissed cheaply in all of the 3 innings that he featured in.
One of the main reasons to this string of low scores can be due to him batting on number 6 instead of batting as an opener. This is due to KL Rahul’s brilliant batting displays in the opening position in the ongoing series. The batter first scored an impressive 77 in the Perth Test before playing another valiant knock of 84 in Brisbane.
The change hasn’t been fruitful to Rohit, who has only managed to score a total of 19 runs in 3 innings while batting in the middle order. Amid the 37-year-old’s abysmal performances, former India coach Ravi Shastri believes that the skipper should go in with a clear mindset, change his tactics, and attack the bowlers.
“I would like to see Rohit Sharma, his tactics change a bit because he can still be extremely dangerous at that number (six). I think he’s got to be very clear in his mindset to go out there and take the attack to the opposition and not worry about anything else,” Shastri said on ICC Review.
Shastri also believes that Rohit should let go of the defensive mindset and try to bat with his natural attacking playstyle.
“The last thing you want is him to be in two minds whether to defend or attack. In his case, it should be attack. He picks up length quickly, he should take the opposition on at that number,” Shastri said.
“Because if he gets away in the first 10-15 minutes, in any way, he’s not got past that 15-20 minutes, half an hour. So why don’t you play a natural game, go and take the attack to the opposition and take it from there?” Shastri added.
Shastri feels that it’s the best way for Rohit to get back into form and win games for India, adding that the best number 6 batters are those who have the ability to counter-attack.
“I think that is his best way of not just coming back into form, winning a game for India as well. Because that number is a crucial number,” Shastri said.
“The best No.6s in the world are the guys who know how to have the ability to counter-attack. They read the situation well. Yes, if a lot of wickets have fallen, maybe for a little while. You might have to be circumspect, but the intent has to be far sooner than later. Especially when you have that kind of ability and especially when you open the batting for India and you have all the shots for Australian conditions,” Shastri added.
