In the home Test season this year, Rohit Sharma has appeared a shadow of himself in the 10 innings he has played across five matches; and the former India wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik feels “getting into a safe space” could be the reason behind the Indian captain’s poor run.
Rohit has scored just 133 runs in five Tests against Bangladesh and New Zealand, which includes a solitary half-century. On Sunday, in the third and final Test against the Kiwis in Mumbai, Rohit was dismissed for 11.
India lost the match and the series 0-3, which was the first ever instance of India getting whitewashed in a three-Test series at home. Rohit contributed only 91 runs in the series at an average of 15.16.
“The one thing that Rohit Sharma is not doing, which he did very well when he took up his role as an opener, is trust his technique,” said Karthik on a Cricbuzz show. “Yes, attack is an option. But that will only come better if you trust your technique. Because you are worried you might get out defending or playing a soft shot, you are trying to attack. Then, that is fraught with risk. Because if it doesn’t come off, it looks silly.
“In Test cricket, what I feel is that intent is getting him into a safe space where he feels when in trouble, use that. It’s not a method where he’s using it like he’s using it in white-ball cricket, one that the Indian team needed. Here, a lot of times, when he is beaten a couple of times, when he is put under a little bit of pressure, an immediate instinct is to play an attacking shot fraught with risk. Now, with that comes the possibility to get out as well,” Karthik explained.
“I think his safe space right now, in Rohit Sharma’s case, is to attack. Then, in that, he feels he is a lot more comfortable doing it because he’s seen that success. But when it doesn’t go right, it always will give the image that it has given so far.”
India’s next assignment will be a T20I tour of South Africa, which will be followed by five Tests in Australia for the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
Rohit, who has retired from T20Is, may not be available for the first Test against Australia, beginning November 22 in Perth, because of personal reasons.