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'Rohit came back and sat down quietly. He was really dejected': Shastri narrates incident from India's 2021 England tour
Former India coach Ravi Shastri has narrated an incident from last year's tour of England which had left Rohit Sharma dejected.
India captain Rohit Sharma was the star performer for his country when they toured England for a five-Test series last year. In fact, when the series finally concluded last month with England levelling it 2-2 with a win in Birmingham, Rohit, with 368 runs, was the leading-run scorer for India despite not featuring in the rescheduled fifth Test at Edgbaston. In four Tests, Rohit registered scores of 36, 83, 59 and 127. The century at the Oval was Rohit's first on foreign soil, and that India were solid throughout the tournament owed a lot to Rohit being firm as an opener and providing his team good starts.
However, former India coach Ravi Shastri has narrated an incident which had left Rohit dejected. As India defeated England by 151 runs in the second Test at Lord’s, Rohit produced a handsome knock of 83, and just when it seemed that he would get his name up on the Lord's honours board, he played on to a delivery by James Anderson. Shastri recalled how Rohit, after returning to the change room was upset and remained in a zone for a while.
"When Rohit got out, he came back to the dressing room and just sat quietly on a table. He was in a daze. He just wanted that hundred. A special feeling for any player to get a hundred at Lord's. And you could see that he was really, really dejected. But he made up for it at The Oval," Shastri said on air during the 2nd ODI between India and England at The Oval.
As Shastri pointed out, Rohit went on to make sure he made the opportunity count two Tests later at The Oval. Even in Headingley, where England steamrolled India by an innings and 76 runs, Rohit scored 59 in the second innings. Coming into the fourth Test at The Oval, Rohit was dismissed cheaply for 11 in the first innings, but in the second, he and KL Rahul blunted the new ball by adding 83 runs for the first wicket. Rohit's 127 and half-centuries from Rishabh Pant and Shardul Thakur ensured India set England a stiff total to get.
