Mumbai Indians bowling coach Shane Bond believes Rohit Sharma will come good as an opener in Test cricket. India and New Zealand are in line to play against each other in the inaugural World Test Championship Final, which will be played in Southampton from June 18.

Rohit Sharma was in good form with the bat after returning in red-ball cricket during the Test series in Australia. Later on, he was in full flow against England during the home Test series, where he scored a sparkling hundred in the second Test in Chennai.

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Talking to Sportstar, Shane Bond said Rohit and Trent Boult were discussing the WTC Final during the IPL 2021.

“Even during the Indian Premier League (IPL) season, [Trent] Boult was swinging the ball, hitting Rohit on the pad and telling him ‘that’s what is going to happen in the WTC final’ (laughs),” he said.

“So, they were already talking about it [WTC final] four months in advance. The banter was just brilliant. Those two were very aware that they were going to come up against each other. I can’t wait for the Boult vs Sharma battle. I am expecting a few smiles between the boys as well, which will be good to watch.”

Bond believes Rohit’s aggressive nature of batting is similar to Matthew Hayden and this can give India an advantage during the WTC Final.

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“I love Rohit as a player… I see him almost in a Matt Hayden type of role where he goes and imposes himself [on the oppoistion] as he did against England at home,” Bond added.

“He is a very dynamic player in difficult conditions, can take the game away from a team even with New Zealand bowling with the new ball. He is such a stroke maker. It sort of suits him being at the top of the order when the ball is hard. There are obviously some areas in his game that New Zealand can look to exploit, but he scores fast, and if you score fast and put runs on the board, that instantly puts pressure on the bowling attack. As a bowler, there is nothing worse than going for runs when you are trying to pitch it up,” he further added.