Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes that senior players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are currently going through a rough patch of form but added that people should not “read too much into it”.
Both Rohit and Virat weren’t able to perform well throughout the 3 New Zealand Tests and couldn’t even cross the 100-run mark in the 6 innings that they individually played in the series.
Gavaskar believes that the duo didn’t enjoy any sort of luck throughout the New Zealand series and this only made things worse for them.
“Even the best of players go through bad patches. These weren’t easy pitches to bat on in all three matches. Except, perhaps, the second innings in Bengaluru. Sometimes you need a bit of luck… like you make the first mistake and the ball goes only near the stump. Somebody drops a catch, a close LBW goes in your favour. All these things can happen. But when going through a bad patch, everything goes against you. Somebody takes a brilliant catch, you get a great delivery. I won’t read too much into it,” Gavaskar told the Indian Express.
The legendary cricketer opined that the duo should have participated in Duleep Trophy before the New Zealand Tests and also pointed out the importance of match practice.
“They should have had some practice, definitely. It’s a long gap. I know we beat Bangladesh and therefore it looked as if it’s going to be a cakewalk against New Zealand. But New Zealand obviously had the better attack. And players who play in India, in the IPL, have a sense of what Indian pitches do. Almost half the New Zealand side played here during various stages of the IPL. So, they have an idea of what the pitches do,” Gavaskar said.
