Making Rohit Sharma open in Test cricket makes lot of sense, feels Ian Chappell
Former Australian Captain Ian Chappell praised the Indian team management for backing Rohit Sharma to open in Test cricket. He believes Rohit Sharma always had the potential to become a good red-ball cricketer and said that it gave him immense satisfaction to see Rohit succeed in Tests.
In Vizag, Rohit Sharma became the first Test player ever to score centuries in both the innings in the first innings as an opener.Ā Prior to opening the batting in Tests, Rohit had scored three Test centuriesĀ and all of those came when he was batting at number six. Despite arguably being one of the greatest white-ball players India has produced, the Mumbaikar never seemed to have reached his full potential as a Test player.
However, with Hanuma Vihari almost cementing his place at number six with impressive performances against the Windies, Rohit Sharma's situation had become similar to that of Sehwag a few years ago, when Sehwag was tipped to open the batting as there was no place in the middle-order. Similarly, Rohit was also backed by the team management to open the innings for India in Tests. And cometh the opportunity, Rohit did not disappoint and started with a bang, scoring centuries in both innings. Ian Chappell in his article for ESPN Cricinfo, praised Rohit for this amazing performance.
"After his triumphant 2013 entrance into the Test arena, Rohit gradually faded to the point where it took him another 35 innings toĀ reach three figures again. His moderate success in the intervening period meant he was in and out of the Indian side without ever cementing a spot in the batting line-up," Chappel said.
"Most of those innings were played at either five or six, but in what appeared to be a last-ditch effort to resurrect his five-day career, he was promoted to open in the first Test against South Africa," he added.
The Australian legend gave his insight as to why this move makes sense for Rohit as well as for Team India. The 32-year-old himself said after the first Test in Vizag that opening works well for his game as he does not need to wait for the chance for batting, knowing that he has to face the first ball.
"This move makes a lot of sense. As a one-day opener Rohit has established himself as the next most dangerous batsman to his team-mate Kohli. The move to opening means that he bats ahead of Kohli in Test matches, and this is crucial to revitalising his career in the longer format," Chappell said.
"The other advantage to Rohit opening is, it paints for him a clear picture of how he should play. He obviously needs to be watchful at first, but there's also plenty of opportunity to score quickly with the field up. If he does get a start, it then means he's more at ease when facing spinners with some runs under his belt," he added.
Chappel signed off by revealing how astonished he was feeling after seeing that it took such a long time for someone of Rohit's caliber to seal a spot in the Test team, having first seen Rohit play in the 2008 Commonwealth Bank series in Australia. He believes that if the Mumbaikar seals his spot at the top of the order in Tests, it will help India a long way and it will bring some entertainment to Test Cricket as a whole.
"Rohit is a very watchable batsman. When I first saw him play his horizontal-bat shots in a 2008 ODI series against Australia, I thought, 'Boy, this kid can really play,'" he said.
"The fact that 11 years later he is still trying to establish himself as a Test batsman is perplexing. However, if this latest move works, it will help not only India but also Test cricket, because, even though he's no longer a kid, Rohit still entertains the fans," he signed off.