"Zaroor galtiya ki hai..." - Irfan Pathan's blunt take on Rohit Sharma's captaincy

Rohit Sharma as the captain has faced a lot of criticism after India’s loss in the first Test in Hyderabad. The loss has pegged India to the fifth position on the WTC points table. The second Test starts on February 2 in Vizag.

Rohit’s captaincy was criticized by former England captains Michael Vaughan and Geoffrey Boycott. India lost the Test match by 28 runs despite taking a 190-run lead allowing Rohit’s captaincy to be a subject of debate.

Rohit’s captaincy especially in the second innings of England’s batting innings was debatable. There were not many attacking fieldsets while England especially Ollie Pope was allowed to score those runs and add crucial partnerships.

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A few former Indian cricketers were critical of Rohit’s captaincy as well after the first Test loss. However, Irfan Pathan backed Rohit to achieve success with his captaincy in the remainder of the series and lead India to a series win.

“Dekhiye vo acche kaptaan hai. Zaroor galtiya ki hai pichle Test match mein jaha par match jaane diya. Lekin umeed yahi rehti hai ki aise experienced kaptaan se jo ek bahut acha manjha hua kaptaan hai, wapsi karne ke liye vo saare daav-pench ladaye aane wale matches mein jaha par bharat series jeete (He is a good captain. Definitely, he made some mistakes in the first Test by letting the match slip, but there’s always hope from an experienced captain like him that he will do everything to make a comeback and help India win the series),” Pathan said at an event in Delhi, as quoted by TimesNow.

All Eyes On Rohit Sharma In Vizag

Rohit did not score too many runs with the bat as well in the first Test. He scored 24 and 39 in the two innings and lost opportunities to score big. He should have scored more runs in the chase as an opener and set the platform for the rest of the batters. A chase of 231 on the fourth and fifth day seemed very difficult for the inexperienced batting lineup.

Rohit’s batting in Test cricketer has been a subject of debate for a long time. He does not have bright numbers but his numbers have bettered since he started to open the batting in the format. With Virat Kohli missing the second Test as well, the onus will be on the Indian skipper to score a good amount of runs in the second Test in Vizag. He also needs to be more attacking with his captaincy and make things happen when the going is tough.

The Indian skipper criticized the second innings batting effort and reasoned it as the loss in the second Test. Debutant Tom Hatrley picked up seven wickets in the second innings and nine in the match to make an impact in the very first match of the series. Indian batters had no answers to Hartley’s trickery.

“I thought 230 was gettable, there wasn’t too much in the pitch. We didn’t bat well enough to get to the score. I went and checked where we bowled, we bowled in the right areas. When you finish the day, you analyse what went well and what didn’t go well. The bowlers executed the plans really well, but you got to take your hat off and say well played to Pope. That was some serious knock. Hard to look at one or two things. Overall, we failed as a team” said a disappointed Rohit after the loss.

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