Abhishek Nayar Reveals The Reason Behind Rohit Sharma's Expertise In Spin-Friendly Conditions

With Indian opening batsman Rohit Sharma excelling in the raging turners in the last two Tests, Abhishek Nayar has revealed why he is relatively comfortable on playing those pitches. Abhishek Nayar, who is also from Mumbai, has played alongside Rohit Sharma in domestic cricket and Mumbai Indians. He believes that consistently playing local cricket with red soils aids Rohit.

Rohit Sharma, the highest run-getter from India in the ongoing Test series against England, was also the top-scorer amongst both sides in the last two matches. He scored 161 in the second and 66 in the third, as both the knocks played a crucial role in shaping India’s victory. While most batsmen struggled to get runs on the pitches, Rohit batted in his league.

Abhishek Nayar revealed that any Mumbai cricketer has to counter challenging conditions in local cricket. Nayar underlined that as an amateur, Rohit played on pitches that have red soil, which highly aids spin, while in the Kanga League, spinners become more deadly as the ball is wet and skids.

“Any cricketer in Mumbai has to counter tough conditions while batting in local cricket. As a youngster, Rohit has played on wickets with red soil, on which the ball spins like a top, and in the Kanga league, where spinners become even more dangerous since both the wicket and the ball are wet, and the ball skids,” Nayar told Times of India.

Rohit Sharma’s sweep shot is natural: Abhishek Nayar

The 37-year old remarked that Ahmedabad’s pitch was challenging to bat on and difficult to judge where it would go. Nevertheless, he stated that Rohit’s sweep shot was quite natural and sweeps are handy in turning tracks. He claimed that Mumbai players are indeed excellent players of spin bowling.

“Like it happened in Ahmedabad, you don’t know if the ball would stop and come, come straight or turn. If you see his sweep shot, it’s a very natural, ‘Mumbaiya shot,’ since the sweep comes handy while playing in turning conditions. This is why most Mumbai batsmen, for example Shreyas Iyer, are very good players of spin bowling,” he added.

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