India skipper Virat Kohli rues missing injured opener Rohit Sharma for limited overs series vs England
India opener Rohit Sharma during the fourth ODI against New Zealand at Ranchi in October. Pic/AFP
Kanpur: There’s an adage: ‘Out of sight is out of mind’. It holds true till things are going well but in adverse situations, you miss that person. That’s been the case with the Indian cricket team and Rohit Sharma. When the going was good, nobody remembered him, but after losing an ODI and a T20I game in succession to England, suddenly he has come rushing back to memory.
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The Mumbaikar is India’s batting mainstay in white ball cricket. He possesses two double centuries in ODIs, the only batsman in the world with that feat. When he gets going, there is no better stroke-player to watch. It’s but natural that he will be missed by any team.
Opening worries for India
The Indian team has been having problems with their opening pair in limited-overs cricket ever since Rohit became hors de combat in November in the final ODI against New Zealand.
Of course, his absence did not affected the Indian team in the subsequent Test series against the English team, but he has been badly missed in the ODIs and the ongoing T20Is.
India have been having problems with their opening pair, with Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul and Ajinkya Rahane hopelessly out of form. This led to skipper Virat Kohli opening the innings in the first T20I here on January 26. Kohli could not get going, nor could the other batsmen and India were beaten hands down.
After the seven-wicket defeat, Kohli admitted that had Rohit Sharma been fit, there was no question of himself opening the batting. “If Rohit had been in the side, there is no doubt that he would be opening with Rahul. His presence gives our batting a good balance and solidity. This (Kohli opening the innings) is just because of Rohit not being here.”
There is no doubt Rohit is a class apart in limited-overs cricket. He has over 5000 runs in 153 ODIs with 10 centuries, which includes two double tons — 264 and 209, besides two innings in access of 150. He averages 41.37 and has a healthy strike rate of 84.43.
Devastating
He is equally devastating with the bat in T20Is, with 1364 runs from 55 innings in 62 games at an impressive strike rate of 129.41. More than half his runs (786) have come through fours and sixes. A batsman with such a phenomenal record is bound to be missed.
Having undergone surgery in London on his right upper quadriceps tendon on November 11, Rohit is expected to be out of action for three months. That means he could return to competitive cricket sometime during the Indian Premier League and hopefully regain his form and fitness before the Indian team departs for England in the last week of May to defend their Champions Trophy crown. His presence would be crucial to India’s aspirations.
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