Don’t write off champions: Nathan Lyon on Kohli’s recent batting slump
The Australian team must be hoping to take advantage of Virat Kohli’s prolonged batting slump when the two sides clash in the five-Test series for the Border-Gavaskar trophy
Former India opening batsman Virender Sehwag was all praise for stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma, who is in impeccable form. According to Sehwag, the 32-year-old’s scoring rate is unmatchable and even regular skipper Virat Kohli can’t show such consistency when it comes to scoring at the pace at which Rohit scores.
In Rajkot on Thursday, Rohit played a sensational knock of 85 runs off 43 balls against Bangladesh in the second T20I of the ongoing three-match series. In an over of Mosaddek Hossain, Rohit hit the off-break bowler for three consecutive sixes.
“Hitting 3-4 sixes in an over or scoring 80-90 runs off 45 balls is an art that I haven’t even seen (Virat) Kohli pull off as regularly as Rohit (Sharma),” Sehwag told Cricbuzz.
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Comparing Rohit with legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag said, “Sachin used to tell others if I can do something on the field, why can’t you? But he never understood that there’s only one God and the sort of things God can do, no one else can.
“The same case applies to Rohit. What he (Rohit) can do is hard for Kohli or others to replicate.”
Talking about the match on Thursday, Rohit butchered the Bangladeshi bowlers by tonking the ball in every nook and cranny of the ground during India’s 154-run chase. He reached his fifty in just 23 balls, with a six off Afif Hossain. This was his joint-fastest fifty, after 22-ball half-century against the West Indies at Lauderhill in 2016.
Riding on match-winning knock from skipper Rohit Sharma, India chased down the mediocre target with 26 balls to spare.
After India lost the first T20I against Bangladesh by 7 wickets in Delhi, they bounced back in Rajkot, winning the match by 8 wickets.
The two teams meet next on Sunday for the third and final T20I in Nagpur.
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