Shastri suggests Rohit to play the aggressor at No 6
Rohit Sharma’s decision to bat in the middle order in the Adelaide and Brisbane Tests, has failed to yield the desired results for the Indian team in the Border-Gavaskar series so far.
After a thumping 4-1 win over the Kiwi team in the recently concluded five-match One Day International (ODI) series in New Zealand, Team India started their three-match T20I series on a disappointing note as they were thrashed by 80 runs in the series opener.
Chasing a target of 220 runs in the first ODI, Men-in-Blue were folded up for just 139. Stand-in Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was the first one to go, scoring just one run before getting out to Tim Southee. However, if the Mumbai Indians captain scores in the second T20 in Auckland, he would achieve a personal milestone.
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Rohit Sharma is just 35 runs shy of becoming the leading run-getter in the shortest format of the game.
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New Zealand opener Martin Guptill, who is not part of the ongoing T20I series, is the highest T20I scorer with a tally of 2272 runs. Pakistan all-rounder Shoaib Malik is at the second spot with 2245 runs under his belt.
Rohit Sharma is third in the list with 2238 runs to his name with the help of four hundreds and 15 fifties.
Meanwhile, on Friday, New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson has opted to bat first after winning the toss in the second T20I match.
The Kiwi team have already taken a lead of 1-0 in the ongoing T20I series.
Teams:
India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni(w), Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed
New Zealand (Playing XI): Tim Seifert(w), Colin Munro, Kane Williamson(c), Daryl Mitchell, Ross Taylor, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson
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