IND vs ENG| 'This adjustment is mental, a century is round the corner' - Sunil Gavaskar hails Rohit Sharma

After a gripping game of cricket at the Lord’s, India sealed a 151-run Test victory against England courtesy stellar shows from different individuals at different junctures of the game. Rohit Sharma scored 83 runs in the first innings alongside his opening partner KL Rahul who scored 129. The two innings set the tone for India in the Test match. Bumrah scored 34 runs and took 3 wickets for 33 runs in the second innings on the final day. Mohammed Siraj was the pick of the lot and bagged 8 wickets at the historic venue. 

There is no doubt that Rohit Sharma opening in the Test matches for India has been a revelation. If at all there were any doubts about his abilities as an opener in the longest format on the overseas tours, the 34-year-old has proved the doubters wrong by getting good starts in almost all his innings. The technique of the 'hitman' of ODI cricket has impressed one and all, former India captain Sunil Gavaskar, needless to say is not an exception. 

Sunil Gavaskar, the first batsman to reach the tally 10,000 Test runs, has hailed Rohit Sharma for his “mental strength” and ability to adjust his game early in the innings. 

"In a five-day Test match, no one has an idea as to how the pitch will behave on the first day – things like whether there is life on this pitch, will the ball bounce more? For that, you need some time and the adjustment Rohit Sharma showed in the first innings, how to do it.

He did it brilliantly – what shots to play and what not. Just see how many balls he left, some of them close to the off stump. This adjustment is mental and that is what Rohit accomplished," Gavaskar had said on the Sony Sports Network.

Rohit Sharma was just 17 runs away from his maiden overseas Test century for India when he was dismissed by James Anderson. Gavaskar has asserted that a century at lords was not the main objective and that Rohit’s healthy contribution with the bat was satisfactory and promising.

"And this is what gives us hope from a player. If you get a player who can guarantee to score 80 runs, then in a five-Test series, he would end up with 400-450 runs. What else does a captain need? Yes, he would be disappointed not scoring a century, but getting a century at Lords isn’t everything.

"You score a century at Trent Bridge, or Leeds… if you score a century for India in whichever part of the world, that is what is important. And the way he is batting, the time he has and the position in which he gets himself in, it feels as if a century is just around the corner," asserted Gavaskar.

The third Test is scheduled to begin on August 25th at Headingley.