India vs England 2021: Rohit Sharma Is A Kind Of Player Who Can’t Be Put Under Pressure, Says Sunil Gavaskar

Former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar reckons that Rohit Sharma has got all the shots in the game and is a player who cannot be put under pressure by the situation. Rohit continued his good form in the second test into the pink ball game and has been handling the spinners really well in a tough wicket to bat. He managed to stay unbeaten on 57 at the end of the day and is well set for a deserved century.

Rohit Sharma formed a crucial 64-run partnership with his captain Virat Kohli which took India to a comfortable position despite losing Kohli in the last over of the 3rd Test’s opening day.

Rohit has been so decisive with his footwork and has proved to be the best batsman in difficult conditions again. He will key to India’s success tomorrow and needs to form another good partnership with his vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane to build a hefty lead.

Sunil Gavaskar Lauds India Team’s Confidence

Sunil Gavaskar was particularly impressed with the way Rohit played in a difficult wicket and praised him for being a complete batsman at all ends. He lauded the confidence of Rahane coming in at the fall of a wicket in the last over instead of sending in night watchman and added that India needs to put up a substantial lead to avoid batting last on that wicket.

“The way Rohit Sharma is batting, the confidence that Ajinkya Rahane is showing, there was no night watchman after the last wicket of the day fell, that shows India are pretty confident of overhauling England’s total and get a substantial lead to make sure they don’t have to bat in the fourth innings. Even if they have to, maybe for not too many runs,” Gavaskar told Star Sports.

“He (Rohit) knows how to play, how to pace his innings. That’s what he is going to try to do. And he is the kind of player who can’t be put under any pressure. He can play through the off-side, play through the on-side and he is such a difficult batsman to keep quiet,” he added.

Gavaskar Feels England Have A Chance

Sunil Gavaskar felt that the wicket of Virat Kohli at the end of days’ play would have given England a bit of confidence for the second day. He added that if England can make the early inroads on day two by taking the Indian wickets soon, then it could be game on. He mentioned that Rahane is new to the crease and with Pujara dismissed for a duck, this would the best time to make a comeback in the game.

“He didn’t trouble the England bowlers after that escape (dropped chance of Anderson). That is something that England will be happy about. If India had to go close of play with just two wickets down with Virat Kohli batting on 30 and Rohit Sharma batting on fifty-odd, that would have meant the England team would have had a sleepless night.

“Now they are in with a chance, Ajinkya Rahane is new to the crease, they have got the rock Cheteshwar Pujara for 0. Clearly, England will say to themselves that if we bowl well and take our catches, then we can restrict India to a reasonable total,” Sunil Gavaskar said.

Axar Patel picked up six wickets in the first innings to bundle out England for a mere 112 in the pink-ball Test.