What do you expect when two opening batsmen get together to talk cricket? Well, apart from other things they would both talk about other openers for sure. Something similar happened when former India opener and Ranji Trophy stalwart Wasim Jaffer spoke with another India opener and celebrated cricket commentator Aakash Chopra on the latter’s YouTube channel.
Jaffer spoke highly of India’s limited overs vice-captain Rohit Sharma, and asserted that Rohit understands his game better now and has a good chance of succeeding in Test cricket as an opener.
“I feel he understands his game a lot more now. This is not the Rohit Sharma that we have seen before. He knows where he needs to calm down. Even in ODI cricket, if you see the World Cup, the ball was moving around in a few matches and he held back. He held back for 8-10 overs against South Africa and Pakistan,” Jaffer said.
Rohit made a great comeback to Test cricket in 2019 as he scored a bagful of runs on home conditions. He was expected to play his first series as an opener outside the sub-continent in New Zealand this year but he had to miss the challenge due to an injury.
Jaffer believes Rohit can score big even outside India if he survives the initial phase. “I feel in overseas conditions in the first 30-45 minutes he is a bit vulnerable. I think if he survives that, he has the ability to get double hundreds even there,” the former Mumbai and Vidarbha legend said.
{{/usCountry}}Jaffer believes Rohit can score big even outside India if he survives the initial phase. “I feel in overseas conditions in the first 30-45 minutes he is a bit vulnerable. I think if he survives that, he has the ability to get double hundreds even there,” the former Mumbai and Vidarbha legend said.
{{/usCountry}}“Then when he understands that the conditions have become better, he has that ability to accelerate and suddenly his strike rate would go up to 120-130. So, I feel he is in that headspace that he understands where he needs to take a backseat and where he can attack. And he has both the games.”
Jaffer represented India in 31 Test matches, scoring 1944 runs at an average of 34.10 with five centuries and 11 half-centuries to his name. He is also the highest run-getter in Ranji Trophy history with more than 12,000 runs.