India captain Rohit Sharma continues to court criticism over his baffling strategy and selection calls in the Melbourne Test. Since announcing the return of Washington Sundar to India’s playing XI for the Boxing Day Test — which came at the cost of Shubman Gill — Rohit has had his decision-making questioned time and again. Be it the use of his bowlers, or match-ups used against different Australian batters, Rohit struggled to get the best out of India’s bowling attack for the first two days. Some of his decisions received public criticism from legends like Suni Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri.
During his commentary stint on Day 2 of the Melbourne Test, Shastri questioned both Rohit and head coach Gambhir over the decision to add 2 spinners to the playing XI as they didn’t show the required trust in them.
“Why did you take 2 spinners if you had to bowl them after 40 overs? In Melbourne, spinners should always bowl in 1 or 1 and a half overs. I didn’t understand why Jadeja and Sundar bowled after 40 overs,” Shastri wondered.
The former India head coach also felt that the team should’ve started with Bumrah on Day 2 but he came in to bowl the third over.
“India should’ve started with Bumrah but Siraj bowled the first over. With SIraj’s confidence being low, it’s important to handle him well,” he asserted.
Shastri questioned not just Rohit’s bowling changes but also his field placements.
He said: “You see, Mitchell Starc has come and you have long on and long off fielders. At least put one of them up.”
Sunil Gavaskar was also livid upon seeing India’s bowling performance in the middle. Barring Jasprit Bumrah, no India pacer managed to step up. Gavaskar said that the new ball was ‘wasted’ by India’s pacers.
“Pretty ordinary blowing. If you have to bowl a bouncer, you get it around the helmet’s badge and not around the waist. I’m very disappointed, I’m sorry. This new ball has been wasted. Aakash Deep has been all over the place. He has wasted the new ball by bowling way outside off stump. The Indians have also been sloppy in the field,” the original Little Master said on commentary.
Later, Rohit also decided to open the batting for India, pushing the in-form KL Rahul down the order. But, the skipper departed after making just 3 runs.
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