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'Look at his inconsistent IPL form over years and now WTC final. Rohit has ...': Smith's blistering take on IND skipper
South Africa legend Graeme Smith feels a senior India player should be rested and it's not Cheteshwar Pujara. India face West Indies in a two-match Test series.
Team India captain Rohit Sharma hasn't been in good form in 2023, and saw his woes continue in the WTC final as India crashed to a defeat vs New Zealand, at The Oval in London. The opener was dismissed for 15 and 43 in the WTC final, and saw his side lose by 209 runs.
In IPL 2023 also, Rohit was in poor form and could only muster 332 runs in 16 matches at an average of 20.75, and registered only two half-centuries. The only exception this year has been his 120 vs Australia in Nagpur.
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Speaking to The Times of India, former South Africa captain Graeme Smith believes that the veteran batter 'needs to just refresh.' "One of the biggest challenges of a captain is your own personal performance. The pressure of a leader never goes away. Rohit probably needs to just refresh. His own form hasn't probably been at a level consistent. We look at the IPL over a number of years now and obviously the WTC finals, he is having a bit of a rough patch and often that personal performance can just settle things down a little bit", he said.
The South Africa legend also feels that Rohit's captaincy doesn't require criticism, but it is his personal form which has been put under the scanner. "No one is criticising his captaincy or leadership style. It's just obviously on the personal performance side, if he can get some really good scores behind him, it takes a lot of that pressure away", he added.
If Rohit is rested, then we could see Yashasvi Jaiswal open the innings for India in the Test series. But there are also reports of Cheteshwar Pujara getting dropped. India will be looking to forget their WTC final defeat in their upcoming two-match Test series vs West Indies, away from home. Fans and experts believe that some senior players in the squad could be dropped, making way for youngsters. Meanwhile, Rohit will be looking to work on his form and put in a better display against West Indies. Followed by the Test series, India will face West Indies in three ODIs and five T20Is.
