Last Update on: October 3rd, 2023 at 11:58 am
Since Rohit Sharma changed his approach from playing the accumulator to taking on the bowlers early on, he has managed to score only three ODI centuries. After the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup, where Rohit was at his best, making a world record of scoring five centuries in a single World Cup, he scored two more centuries, but after 2020, it took him three years to score an ODI century.
Traditionally, Rohit Sharma used to take his time, building his innings, which resulted in all those daddy hundreds and three double centuries in the ODI format. In 2019, just after the commencement of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Rohit Sharma had 27 centuries to his name with a strike rate of 88.65 and averaging 48.91, but after the start of 2021, he has managed to score only one ODI century which came against New Zealand earlier this year.
Although, Rohit Sharma said that he made a conscious decision to bat aggressively at the top, former batting coach of India, Sanjay Bangar, believes that Rohit should be back playing the role of accumulator, given that Shubman Gill already has an aggressive approach at the start. This will allow Rohit Sharma to take his time at the start of the innings and once he is set after 10-15 overs, everybody knows how destructive, Rohit Sharma can be.
If Rohit Sharma Plays For 35 Overs, India Is Assured Of A 350+ Score
“I feel the one of an accumulator (what role should he play?). He is someone who has had phenomenal success as an ODI player. And many times that he has scored his hundred, it’s around the 30th over. All those 3 double hundreds that we speak of and rave of so much, the acceleration came toward the last 10-12 overs where he just toys with the bowling,” Bangar told Star Sports in response to a question from India Today.
“So a dangerous Rohit Sharma, if he gets to that 35-over mark, then India is assured of a score of around 350. If he sticks to that sort of a templateâ€æ I know he is trying to do certain other things, maybe take the game away from the bowlers, but he has got a phenomenal, fearless Shubman Gill, he can afford to play the accumulator which will guarantee that India will get a big total,” he added.
Sanjay Bangar urged Rohit Sharma to play the accumulator’s role for India in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 because Shubman Gill is there to take on the bowlers and if Rohit stays on the crease for 30-35 overs, India will have a huge total on the scoreboard.
The Indian team is ready for the World Cup and if skipper Rohit Sharma gets back to his 2019 World Cup form, then he can be India’s weapon of mass destruction in this World Cup as we all know the longer he bats, the stronger he gets.
