Rohit Sharma’s grace comes with a downside, reflects David Gower
Former England captain David Gower has stated that Rohit Sharma, like himself, plays with a lot of grace on the field but the downside is that nobody would see the grace once you get dismissed. Gower added that it is the amount of time that Sharma has spent on the pitch that made him successful.
Veteran left-handed batsman David Gower had hit his first ball faced in Test cricket for a four in 1978 and went down to be one of England's most consistent batsmen in 1980s. He played with a certain amount of grace, something that he relates with the likes of Indian vice-captain Rohit Sharma and former Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene. Gower added that Sharma’s ability to occupy the crease for long periods of time is one of the biggest reasons behind his success in international cricket.
"(Mahela) Jayawardene and anyone with a certain grace at the crease -- no-one gets to see that grace if you get out. It is one of the great truisms of cricket that you can only make runs if you're at the crease. So, Rohit has to stay at the crease. I had to stay at the crease. Mahela had to stay at the crease. The great players of all time, whatever their style and grace, had to stay at the crease in order for people to appreciate them," Gower told Cricket.com.
"At the moment, we see his (Rohit's) talent on show all the time because he makes stacks and stacks of runs so the work comes in to actually make sure that you have the determination, the ability, the technique, the calmness and the concentration -- all the things you need to actually occupy the crease for long enough to make those runs."
The former England captain, however, said that this grace comes with a downside as nobody would care about the grace once you get dismissed.
"As Rohit has probably found out as well, that if you make it look easy when you get out, the natural assumption for people watching sometimes is that you don't care, that you're too relaxed or it doesn't matter," Gower added.
"It looks as easy getting out as it does hitting the ball for four. All you can do under those circumstances is say 'look two days ago I got a hundred, that's what I'm trying to do every day, just because it didn't work is not because I'm not trying."