Viv Richards Not Too Impressed With Rohit Sharma's 'Weird' 25 ODI Tons
Table of Contents
Former West Indies captain Viv Richards has called India star Rohit Sharma’s contrasting performance in ODIs and Tests ‘weird’. Rohit’s performance in ODIs and Test is really baffling. While he is well on his way to become one of the greatest ODI batsmen, his record in Tests speak otherwise.
Rohit is the third highest centurion for India in ODIs. The right-handed batsman has already hit 25 centuries in the 50-over format. He has also scored a record three double tons in ODIs. In T20Is too, he is one of the best in the world and has scored four centuries. But it is his record in Tests that has surprised many. Rohit started his Test career in a stunning manner in 2013 by scoring two centuries in his first two games.
Read More: Sunil Gavaskar ‘Astonished’ Over Ravichandran Ashwin’s Exclusion
But since then, it has been nothing more than ordinary. Rohit has managed to score just one century after his debut series and is yet to cement his place in the Test team. Viv Richards has now tried to explain the reason behind Rohit’s failure to take his limited-overs format form into Test cricket.
Also Read: Sunil Gavaskar ‘Astonished’ Over Ravichandran Ashwin’s Exclusion
One of the greatest batsmen to have played the game, Richards said that the attacking field in Test cricket is the reason behind Rohit’s struggles.
“I saw him the other night and said to him, those 25 hundreds you got in one-day cricket, you scored those runs with a defensive field. In white ball cricket, there are lots of gaps and not enough people in catching positions, so he gets away with it. In Test cricket, you have more catchers in position. As long as you get over that initial attacking period, then you can have same aggression for red ball as you have for white ball,” Richards told Economic Times.
Read More: Source Reveals Reason Behind Sanjay Bangar’s Exit As Team India Batting Coach
It (Rohit’s record) is weird. I don’t know the psyche of the individual or his thought process. 25 ODI hundreds, it sounds good, but his record is not so in Tests. Rohit is getting another chance now, so the substance is there. If he wants it badly enough, and if he feels he has not done enough justice in red-ball cricket, then he should start rectifying that,” he added.
India, meanwhile, have not included Rohit Sharma in their playing eleven for the ongoing first Test against West Indies. Rohit scored a fifty in the warm-up game but the team went with Hanuma Vihari and Ajinkya Rahane.
