Former India player turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has said that the Test series against England will be “make-or-break” for Rohit Sharma as a Test batsman. As per him, India cannot add a batsman aged 34 to the Test team only on the basis of his impressive record at home.
However, his comments came as Rohit’s home and away record in Tests has been a matter of concern. While he has an average of 79.52 from 18 home Tests, it is merely 27 in 20 away games (excluding the World Test Championship final, which took place at a neutral venue). And, all of his seven Test tons have come in home conditions only.
Writing in a column for Hindustan Times, Sanjay Manjrekar added: “This is a make-or-break series for the Test batter in (Rohit) Sharma, because there is no point in having a batter with over 40 Tests under his belt, aged 34, to be in the Test team if he is going to get you big scores only in India.”
READ HERE: Suryakumar Yadav refers to Prithvi Shaw as a showstopper
Rohit Sharma did well in both innings of the World Test Championship (WTC) Final against New Zealand but couldn’t convert the starts into a big score as he was dismissed in the 30s twice. Earlier, he featured in two Tests in Australia and posted the highest score of 52 as well. But, he scored 161 during the second Test against England in Chennai as well.
“This is also a big series for Ashwin. He has only 18 wickets in seven matches in England, also, of late he has had injury issues whenever he has been abroad,” Manjrekar wrote.”I wonder if it’s because he is forced to use his body more to get bite from pitches that aren’t as responsive as those back home. He hardly misses a Test at home. With the new English batters not so adept at playing spin, India will look on occasion towards Ashwin, now on his third trip to England, to be the match winner.”
READ HERE: Washington Sundar all set to miss second phase of IPL 2021
However, the veteran made headlines when he criticized R Ashwin and claimed he is not an all-time great. The experienced spinner has picked up 14 wickets against England away from home in six Tests at an average of 32.92. He also scalped four wickets in the WTC Final as well.
