Former India cricketer Saba Karim has criticized Indian skipper Rohit Sharma’s current batting form. He added that Rohit should not lose focus on his batting, because of the captaincy responsibilities.
In the recently concluded T20I home series against Sri Lanka, the Indian captain did not look in great form. He scored only 50 runs in three matches, at an average of 16.67. This year, Rohit Sharma averages 26.00 and 19.33 in the ODI and T20I formats respectively.
While speaking on the ‘Khelneeti’ podcast, Saba Karim expressed concern over Rohit Sharma’s batting form. He stated, that the Indian opener is in the team because of his batting ability, and the captaincy is just an added responsibility.
“Rohit Sharma is in the XI because of his batting. Captaincy is an additional responsibility. He should not lose focus with regard to batting. A lot of times we have seen that captains are not able to perform as well in their primary skill. This should not happen,” said Saba Karim.
The former cricketer further added that Rohit’s performance will be crucial for the Indian in the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in Australia later this year. He said,
“This is just the starting phase for Rohit Sharma. He will gradually realize how important his runs are for the team. His performance will be crucial in Australia (during the T20 World Cup), where the grounds are big and the opposition has top-quality bowlers. So yes, Rohit Sharma needs to work on this area.”
Shreyas Iyer has found his template to score runs: Saba Karim
Saba Karim was all praise for Shreyas Iyer, who was the Player of the Series in the recently concluded T20Is against Sri Lanka. The right-handed, slammed 204 runs in three matches, without being dismissed even once. Impressed with Iyer’s shots all-round the park, Saba said,
“Shreyas Iyer has reinvented his game. If you look at the pattern of his game, this becomes evidently clear. We call Suryakumar Yadav a 360-degree player but I was looking at Shreyas’ wagon wheel in the three games against Sri Lanka. Except the area behind the keeper, he has scored runs everywhere. He has found his template to score runs. Having said that, there are bigger challenges ahead for him.”
After a 3-0 clean-sweep in the T20I series, India will take on Sri Lanka in a two-match test series, starting from March 4 in Mohali.
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