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Ahead of Rohit Sharma's potential final match for the India National Cricket Team, former India coach Abhishek Nayar expressed his concern over Rohit Sharma's batting. In the third of the three-match ODI series at Lord's, which will be a virtual final as both of the teams have secured one win each, eyes will be on Rohit Sharma.
Whether Rohit will retire after the Lord's match or not is not official yet. But the fans of the former India captain will be eager to see another masterclass from the opener.
Abhishek Nayar explains Rohit Sharma's struggles with the bat
Abhishek Nayar, a close aide of Rohit, expressed his concerns over the batter's mindset. In the previous match in Cardiff, where England claimed the match to make the scoreline 1-1, Rohit was dismissed for 26 runs after facing 47 balls.
Abhishek Nayar, who helped the Mumbai batter to improve his fitness and weight loss, expressed that the right-handed batter's tempo seemed good enough for batting on a deck where the ball was doing a lot of tricks, especially when the surface and the ball were both in fresh conditions.
Abhishek Nayar raises a question over Rohit Sharma's mindset
Nayar was not even concerned about the strike rate. His main concern was over the mindset of Rohit Sharma. Nayar pointed out that after a promising start, in most cases, Rohit carried the momentum at least for a half-century.
As he faced 47 balls to score 26 runs, taking ample amount of time to cope with the conditions, Nayar expected a half-century from Rohit's blade in Cardiff.
Abhishek Nayar also noticed that as the innings progressed, Rohit was under pressure. The outrageous sweep against the off-spinner Will Jacks, which exposed the batter, was because of the growing pressure on the batter's shoulders.
"Conditions are important. You have to respect the conditions. In this game, the ball was seaming, doing a bit, so you expect Rohit to take time as he is not playing all formats. He also understands and will reflect. After a point, after Sam Curran's over, it looked like he was under pressure," Abhishek Nayar said on Star Sports' segment 'Game Plan' ahead of the India vs England 3rd ODI match.
"Other than that, I felt the tempo was fine. I am not so worried about the strike rate. But normally, when he gets to 26, he does make a 50 from there. So that is something he would be concerned about," he added.
Abhishek Nayar is not concerned about Rohit Sharma's form
The Indian coach mentioned further that Rohit is among those batters who play off-spinners well. Losing a wicket against an off-spinner was a sign of some sort of mental blockage that might have prevented the batter from batting in his natural playing style.
"Rohit does not get out a lot against off-spinners. But he got out because it looked like he was sort of stuck for runs. So more than skill, it's the mind. But he is batting well, so I am not concerned," Abhishek Nayar continued.
