Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt feels Australia’s left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc could pose trouble for Indian opener Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill in the upcoming World Test Championship (WTC) final. He added that Rohit has struggled against left-arm fast bowlers. Butt also opined that the Australian bowlers will find it difficult if the two Indian openers got off to a great start.
“If he (Mitchell Starc) gets it right, he can surely make things difficult for Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill. He has a very good inswinger and bowls at a good pace. We have seen that Rohit Sharma is vulnerable against left-armers. However, if those two get set, they can put Australian bowlers under pressure,” Butt said on his YouTube channel.
Salman Butt also shared that India have a stronger batting lineup as compared to Australia. He stated that the conditions at The Oval will benefit the batters as the pace and bounce will help them to play their shots freely as well. However, India faced an eight-wicket loss to New Zealand in the inaugural edition in 2021.
“India have a stronger batting lineup out of the two teams. Also, the conditions that you would get at The Oval, won’t be the typical English conditions. It isn’t similar to Lords or Leeds where the ball tends to swing a lot for the first couple of hours. The Oval offers pace and bounce which makes shot-making easier,” he shared.
Salman Butt also shared that Rohit Sharma’s form isn’t very concerning for his side. He further added that the reason behind Rohit’s recent failures could be his counter-attacking approach in T20s as well.
“I think it is because he (Rohit Sharma) plays with a lot of freedom in T20s. He maybe gets stuck in a certain sort of environment due to a cluttered mindset. He is a very big player but still gets stuck at times. However, it can happen to any player and some of the best batters have also gone through this,” Salman Butt said. “Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin are proven spinners. They know how to contain and how to take wickets and have been doing it for a long period of time. I think they are better than all Indian spinners at the moment,” he added.
