Rohit Sharma's concerning form ahead of Champions Trophy downplayed by India coach: 'Last 3 ODIs he played...'
Indian batting coach Sitanshu Kotak backed Rohit Sharma to come good in the ODI format.
While India were clinical and impressive in their opening ODI victory over England in Nagpur, with most facets of their game clicking as they registered a 4-wicket win within 39 overs to take an early lead in the series. However, one of the continuing concerns is Rohit Sharma's recent lack of form, as he failed to make any sort of impact in the first match with the bat in hand.
Nevertheless, Indian batting coach Sitanshu Kotak brushed this under the carpet, stating this wasn't something that bothered the leadership unit. He reinforced the idea that this is Rohit's strongest format, and shouldn't be looked at as related to the Indian captain’s Test struggles.
"I personally don't think there's any problem. The last 3 one-dayers Rohit has played, he has scored 58, 64 and 35,” explained Kotak. Rohit was one of the few batters who had any sort of success against Sri Lanka in their ODI series last summer, which was the last time the team played an ODI match before this series.
“The guy has got 31 one-day hundreds. Sometimes whenever there's a little lean patch, I don't think I'd be worried or thinking about their form,” explained Kotak, who joined the team as part of Gautam Gambhir's staff.
Can change of format help Rohit
Rohit Sharma had a tough time personally and as captain in the losses to New Zealand and Australia in Test cricket, falling early with bat in hand on essentially every single occasion. Although many questioned whether Rohit still belonged at the top of the order in Test cricket, Kotak was quick to admit his struggles but point out that run-scoring hasn't been a persistent issue in ODIs.
"Yes in Tests in Australia it was a tough time. About one-dayers, he's always been scoring runs so not concerned,” he explained.
Rohit Sharma himself has earlier grown frustrated at the microscope his batting was put under. Ahead of the first match win, Rohit agitatedly replied to a reporter in a press conference: "What kind of a question is that? This is a different format, different time. As usual, as cricketers, we know there will be ups and downs and I have faced a lot in my career so this is nothing new to me. We know every day is a fresh day, every series is a fresh series.”
Rohit, nonetheless, will be eagerly looking forward to getting back amongst the swing of things in the second ODI of the series, being played in Cuttack’s Barabati Stadium.
