England has drawn level with Team India in the ongoing Test series. The Indians won the Lord’s Test, but had to endure a tough defeat at Leeds. They lost by an innings and 76 runs after getting all-out for just 78 in the first innings. One of the main reasons for the loss is the poor batting performance. For the next games, the Indian batsmen must try and follow Rohit Sharma in playing deliveries outside off.
Rohit Sharma has been a revelation this series
Prior to this tour, many were of the opinion that Rohit Sharma would struggle in England. Rohit has previously struggled in swinging conditions, and the tour was a major platform for him to overcome it. So far, he has actually been the best Indian batsman on the tour.
In the ongoing series, the Mumbai cricketer has struck 230 runs at an average of 46. Including a couple of fifties, Rohit has looked comfortable in the task. It would not be an understatement if we say that the other Indian batters should apply his approach from the next encounter.
Indian batsmen follow Rohit Sharma in playing deliveries outside off
One of the main improvements in Rohit’s approach for batting in England has been his better control of instincts. He has left the deliveries outside off on his own, which is actually uncharacteristic for his style. When the opportunity arose, he also made use of these outside-off deliveries to get some runs. Hence, the deliveries angling away hardly had an impact on him.
On the other hand, the rest of the Indian batters have struggled in this aspect. Virat Kohli often poked at harmless deliveries outside the off-stump and this has led to his downfall. The same is the case with Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Rishabh Pant. Although KL Rahul did well in the first two Tests, at Leeds, even he failed to play the offside channel delivery well. If the players can take a leaf out of Rohit’s book, maybe India’s batting performance would improve in the coming games.
Rohit Sharma showed the best technique on how to play or leave the ball when its outside off stump in this England series and KL Rahul did that in first two Tests.
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