India began Day 2 of the first Test against England really well, with their opening pair of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul adding 97 runs for the first wicket. What seemed like turning out to be a wonderful, and spotless session for India, was hampered by the untimely dismissal of Rohit, who played the pull shot and holed out to Sam Curran in the deep off the bowling of Ollie Robinson at the stroke of lunch.
From 97/0, India slipped to 112/4 with Rohit's dismissal triggering a mini-collapse with the team losing four wickets for the next 15 runs. Prior to the fall of the first wicket, the two openers were involved in a bit of confusion while running between the wickets, with Rohit escaping a narrow run-out chance, and that could have led to a lapse in Rohit's concentration, feels former India batsman VVS Laxman.
"The pull shot is one of the most productive ones for Rohit Sharma. He does not get into a conventional position, which is why a majority of his pull shots end up going in the air. I just feel the concentration lapse would have happened because of that run-out chance," Laxman said on ESPNCricinfo.
{{/usCountry}}"The pull shot is one of the most productive ones for Rohit Sharma. He does not get into a conventional position, which is why a majority of his pull shots end up going in the air. I just feel the concentration lapse would have happened because of that run-out chance," Laxman said on ESPNCricinfo.
{{/usCountry}}"And, since that morning session started, there were at least two or three misunderstandings between Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. So maybe, lack of focus led him to play that shot. But when you can pull like the way Rohit Sharma does, you have to back your natural instincts… Unfortunately, he just holed out to the fielder in the deep."
Once again, Rohit got out after getting a start, having worked really hard to score 36 off 107 balls with six boundaries. Before this, Rohit had gotten out for 34 and 30 in the final of the World Test Championship and missed out on a couple of good chances in Australia Tests as well. Keeping this in mind, Laxman identified a pattern in the batsman's dismissals of late.
"It happened in Brisbane. He was looking to capitalize on the wonderful foundation he and Shubman Gill laid, when they were chasing that target. We saw that in both innings of the World Test Championship (WTC) final. He did all the hard work when the conditions were suitable for the New Zealand bowlers and then played at a ball that was wide outside the off stump," the former India batsman added.
"In the second innings, he got out leaving a ball, which he was supposed to play. It can be termed as a pattern. Having said that, Rohit Sharma will be pleased with the way he applied himself. He wants to prove that he is a more than capable batsman in overseas conditions. 'I think he will definitely convert these starts to big scores in the coming innings.'"