Manjrekar advises Rohit Sharma to channelise inner ‘Pujara’ once again: ‘He is short of confidence…’

Sanjay Manjrekar tried to judge why Rohit Sharma has been struggling in Test cricket in recent months.

One of the main batting concerns for India heading into the Boxing Day Test match in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy is the form of their senior batters, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. While there have been plenty who have been wondering why the runs have dried up, the duo continue to struggle, with the skipper Rohit in particular only managing 19 runs in three innings after dropping down to number six.

Rohit Sharma inspects his bat during the Gabba Test. (AFP)

Rohit’s barren run with the bat in Test cricket continues, with only 152 runs in 13 innings since the start of the series against Bangladesh earlier this year. Rohit’s form seems to have deserted him after a pair of centuries against England at the beginning of the year, and former Indian cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar dove into the reasons why this might be the case.

Speaking on ESPNcricinfo, Manjrekar said: “He is short of confidence with self-doubts. And [it was a] bit of a rude shock when he played in that home series against New Zealand and his defense was getting breached on Indian pitches.” Rohit was dismissed by pacers regularly in the series vs the Kiwis, despite the rest of the Indian batters looking fairly comfortable against seam and struggling against spin.

‘A bit Pujara-like…’

Manjrekar pointed out that the main difference was that Rohit’s success was built on a rock-solid and patient defensive game, rather than looking to take the attack to opposition bowlers. Manjrekar argued that this part of his game had deserted him.

“So for someone, who in 2021 when he had that terrific series in England, and scored a strike rate of 42, which is a bit Pujara-like and the entire series he batted for about 21 hours,” explained Manjrekar. “This was a new discovery for all of us and now when he has to bring that game back, he just can’t find the defensive game. So that’s where the problem lies — just gone to pieces, his defense.”

Manjrekar also stated that Rohit had enjoyed batting in a patient manner, having learnt to do that while coming up through the domestic system, which bore him fruit in international cricket. “I also felt this is his true calling, this is what he loves to do – which is playing for time like a typical Mumbai batter."

Captain Rohit demoted himself to number six in the batting order to accommodate KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal as openers, with Rahul continuing that stolid and grinding type of playstyle that has borne fruit in Test cricket. Whether Rohit can fix the things that are ailing him, technically or with his mindset, will play a big role in what direction the Border-Gavaskar Trophy takes in its last two matches.