Asia Cup 2018 – India vs Pakistan: Rohit Sharma’s struggles against arch-rivals revealed

Rohit Sharma has never quite dominated the Pakistan bowling attack and has only managed to score 417 runs from 13 ODIs against Pakistan so far.

Indian captain Rohit Sharma has had a prolific run in ODI cricket over the last 15 months. In 10 matches this year, he has scored 347 runs at an average of 38.55 and with a strike rate of 90.

File image of Rohit Sharma. (AFP)

However, he has never quite dominated the Pakistan bowling attack and has only managed to score 417 runs from 13 ODIs against Pakistan so far. Not only this, his batting strike-rate against Pakistan is the third worst among Indian players since the year 2000.

Ever since he has started opening the batting, he has been an accumulator of runs, but his abilities hit a dead end whenever he faces Pakistan. He has hit only a total of 43 boundaries (37 fours and 6 sixes) against Pakistan, which is the least against any team.

“It is always exciting to play Pakistan. They are a great nation. They have been playing good cricket, off late. We are looking forward to that clash but again there are other teams here as well who are eying for the title,” Rohit spoke about the clash before the tournament.

The result of the match is largely dependent on the start the Indian team receives against a potent Pakistan bowling attack and the pressure will be on Rohit Sharma. He looked promising in the match against Hong Kong, but could not bat deep into the innings and he needs to be at his best against the arch-rivals.