Melbourne:
Former India men’s head coach believes Virat Kohli still has three to four years of Test cricket left in him whereas Rohit Sharma needs to ‘take a call’ about his career or, at least his batting position, at the end of the series.
The two senior-most Test batters failed again on Monday. Opening the innings, Rohit played 39 balls patiently but got a big leading edge trying to flick a full-length ball by Pat Cummins, which was gobbled up brilliantly by Mitchell Marsh. Meanwhile, Kohli got out trying to drive a ball wide outside again, this time against left-arm quick Mitchell Starc.
“No, I think Virat Kohli will play,” Shastri told the broadcaster, Star Sports. “Virat will play for some time, forget the way he got out today. I think he will play for 3 or 4 more years. As far as Rohit is concerned, it’s a call. At the top of the order, his footwork isn’t the same. He is probably, at times, a little late in meeting the ball. So it’s his call at the end of the series.”
“But, having said, this Australian team want it badly. The captain wants it badly. The determination in his eyes was evident even when he was batting yesterday. He was not going to give it away,” he added.
Though Kohli scored a century in the Perth Test and put up a decent 36 (86) in the first innings, Rohit has the best score of 10 in the series.
Shastri also expressed a bit of empathy for the Indian skipper. He felt as though his movements had slowed, Australia didn’t allow him to play his natural game.
“This is the mode of dismissal. Rohit Sharma, at his best, that front foot would be closer to the pitch of the ball. There’s a trigger movement and then the front foot stays planted. So the bat goes at the ball, so you are playing away from the body,” Shastri explained. “They have bowled well at him. You can say ‘try and attack the bowling’. But, they gave you nothing. This is the best I think Australia have bowled in one spell as a unit,” he added.
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