Legendary cricketer Sunil Gavaskar believes that Rohit Sharma should consider batting for a longer period and focus on building the innings.
He said the Indian captain shouldn’t be happy by scoring a quick fire 25-30 and instead look to bat till 25-30 overs which will take the games away from the opposition.
Rohit Sharma has failed to convert starts in the ongoing Champions Trophy 2025 as his highest score is 41 against Bangladesh. Since then he amassed only, 20, 15 and 28.
“As a batter, are you happy with scoring 25-30 runs? You shouldn’t be!” said Sunil Gavaskar.
“So that is what I would say to him: your impact on the team will be even greater if you bat for 25 overs instead of just seven, eight, or nine overs,” Gavaskar said.
“If Rohit Sharma bats for even 25 overs, India will be around 180-200. Imagine if they have lost only a couple of wickets by then; just think what they could do. They could reach 350 or more.
“He also needs to give it some thought. It’s one thing to go out and play aggressively, but there has to be a bit of discretion somewhere to give himself the chance to bat for 25-30 overs.”
“If he does that, he takes the game away from the opposition. That kind of impact is match winning,” he said.
Sunil Gavaskar has pointed out the shortcomings in India opener Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill who have failed to give India go start in the ongoing tournament.
“They haven’t (played to their maximum potential) because when you look at the openers, they haven’t really given the Indian team the kind of start that they had hoped for. That has not happened. So, clearly, I think there’s a shortcoming over there,” said Gavaskar.
India will square off against New Zealand in the finals of the Champions Trophy 2025 at the Dubai International Stadium.
