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'He is in the XI because of his batting. Should not lose focus’: Saba Karim sounds stern warning for star India player
Saba Karim, former India cricketer, has sounded a stern warning for the star India player following a poor show against Sri Lanka.
Although India defeated Sri Lanka 3-0 in the recently-concluded T20I series, cruising to a 12th consecutive win in the process, there are still a few chinks in the armor that need correction. One of them, as per former wicketkeeper-batter Saba Karim, is Rohit Sharma's batting form.
India's newest all-format captain Rohit couldn't hit the top gear across the series against the Lankans. In three hits, he could only add 50 runs to his kitty at an appalling average of 16.67.
Earlier, during the West Indies T20 series, Sharma's numbers weren't any better as the opener scored just 78 runs in three innings.
Karim is concerned with this patch of form and while speaking on the ‘Khelneeti’ podcast, he said that things are only going to get tougher in the future so he should brace himself for it.
"Rohit Sharma is in the XI because of his batting. Captaincy is an additional responsibility. He should not lose focus with regards to batting. Lot of times we have seen that captains are not able to perform as well in their primary skill. This should not happen.
“This is just the starting phase for Rohit Sharma. He will gradually realize how important his runs are for the team. His performance will be crucial in Australia (during the T20 World Cup), where the grounds are big and the opposition have top-quality bowlers. So yes, Rohit Sharma needs to work on this area," explained Karim.
Meanwhile, Karim lauded Shreyas Iyer's form, which is currently at the other end of the spectrum.
“Shreyas Iyer has reinvented his game. If you look at the pattern of his game, this becomes evidently clear. We call Suryakumar Yadav a 360 degree player but I was looking at Shreyas’ wagon wheel in the three games against Sri Lanka. Except the area behind the keeper, he has scored runs everywhere. He has found his template to score runs. Having said that, there are bigger challenges ahead for him,” Karim commented.
