Former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar believes Indian opener Rohit Sharma is taking revenge on himself for faltering in his initial few years as a Test cricketer. Ever since he has been promoted to open the batting, Rohit has been in impressive form as has peeled off three centuries. In the ongoing match in Ranchi, Rohit slammed his maiden double ton to power India's innings.
"Now, everyone will admit that Rohit Sharma was a great batsman and is a great batsman. He collected runs at will in limited-overs cricket. However, he realized that he was missing out on bigger action - Test cricket," Akhtar said in a video posted on his YouTube channel. "I think Rohit Sharma is now realising what he is capable of. He is batting in a one-day style only. He is hitting big sixes and scoring freely. He is now taking revenge from his own self," he further added.
Rohit looked relaxed in the series
Rohit has been in stunning form and is looking very relaxed when at the crease. This prompted Akhtar to predict that if he continued to bat in the same vein, he could very well topple Steve Smith's record of scoring most runs in a series.
"He now wants to make it up for the time he has lost by not playing Test cricket in the last five years. Had he played Test cricket, he would have easily scored 8000-9000 runs by now," said Akhtar. Akhtar never really minces his words while making a prediction and here too he said: "If he continues playing in the form he is playing, he can easily break Steve Smith's record and score a thousand runs in a Test series."
Virat Kohli enforced the follow on after the bowlers bundled out the visitors for 162 in the first innings. Following on, they were reduced to 36 for five and were battling to drag the match to the fourth day. India has already bagged the series 2-0 and would want to complete a clean sweep.
Speaking at the end of Day 2, Rohit said that it was very important for him to make it big as an opener and to give his side solid starts upfront.
"There's nothing in particular that I've done in terms of technique. (But) The new ball does something in whatever conditions you play... We saw in Ranchi and Pune that it did something (more) than (it) would overseas, in Australia for instance. I was allowing myself to take time rather than going after the ball," he said.
