Gautam Gambhir explains how Rohit Sharma can become a complete Test batsman

Gautam Gambhir wants India not to lose hope with Rohit Sharma in Test cricket

Rohit Sharma has been in scintillating form in the last few months. After becoming the first batsman to score five centuries in a single edition of World Cup, Rohit carried his form in the shortest format of the game in the three-match T20I series against West Indies. But as astonishing as it may sound, India’s limited overs vice-captain fails to replicate even half of that in Test cricket, so much that even his spot is not confirmed in India’s red-ball team. Former India opener Gautam Gambhir, however, has come up with a solution for that.

Gautam Gambhir wants India not to lose hope with Rohit Sharma in Test cricket (Sonu Mehta/HT PHOTO)

Rohit has played 27 Test matches scoring 1585 runs including 3 hundreds at an average of 39.62. At first glance, those numbers are not bad at all. But the question marks start trickling in when those numbers are compared with his ODI and T20I ones. Rohit averages almost 49 in ODIs with 27 centuries and three double hundreds to his name. But according to Gambhir, India should not lose hope with Rohit Sharma in Test cricket.

Gambhir believes Rohit can become a complete Test batsman if former cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid spend some time with him. “He needs to carry this batting form into Test cricket. I’d go on to say that if someone like a Rahul Dravid or Sachin Tendulkar mentors him for a few months, we may get a completely polished, Test-ready batsman,” Gambhir wrote in his column for Times of India.

Deciphering Rohit’s lack of continuous success in Test cricket, Gambhir further went to write that Rohit at times seems bored in Tests. “Sometimes Rohit just seems bored in Test cricket. A few words of advice by these legends may transform that.”

Gambhir batted for Rohit to be India’s No. 5 in red-ball cricket, a spot currently held by Test vice captain Ajinkya Rahane.

“If things start rolling for Rohit just imagine India’s Test line up with Pujara at number three, Virat at 4 and Rohit at number 5,” Gambhir wrote.

Lauding Rohit Sharma for his flawless batting in T20I series against West Indies, where he scored a match-winning 67 off 51 balls to set the platform for India’s 22-run victory (DLS method) in the 2nd T20I, Gambhir said even a coaching manual is looking like a grey market “first copy” in front of Rohit.

“Rohit Sharma is batting as if there is a GPS on his bat with location settings filtered for the white cricket ball. So flawless has been his display that even a coaching manual is looking like a grey market “first copy”. I think this is the moment when Rohit needs someone in his ears to convey the importance of this form. He needs to convert this into big and consistent scores,” Gambhir added.