London, July 7 (IANS) With India vice-captain Rohit Sharma enjoying the form of his life in the ongoing World Cup, former opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth has pointed out that the Mumbai batsman not only hits the ball cleanly, but also has a rock solid defence and great temperament, which make him a world class batter.
Rohit notched up his fifth century of this World Cup against Sri Lanka on Saturday to become the batsman with most number of hundreds in a single edition of the showpiece event, breaking the record of four tons scored by former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara in 2015.
On Saturday, Rohit’s third century on the bounce helped India thrash Sri Lanka by seven wickets to finish at the top of the points tally after the end of the group stages. The Men in Blue will now take on New Zealand in the first semifinal on Tuesday (July 9).
Rohit has so far amassed 647 runs in eight innings in the tournament.
“India’s openers are flying right now and in Rohit Sharma they have someone who has it all. With three centuries in a row, five in total in this World Cup, he is in incredible form,” Srikkanth wrote in his column for the International Cricket Council (ICC).
“The opposition knows that you either get him out before he gets to 10, or the next pit stop is probably 100. In the last three years of his career, he has been outstandingly consistent in one-day cricket.
“I think the most important thing about him is his temperament. He is so cool and calm, and just never gets flustered. So many players start to panic if they don’t get runs during the Powerplay, but Rohit doesn’t. Even when he starts slowly, he is dangerous,” Srikkanth said.
“He has this ability to just shift through the gears, from second to fourth to sixth to eighth. By the time he gets to 120, he is in eighth gear. He has a fantastic striking ability and we saw that against Sri Lanka.
“But it is also important to remember that he does more than just striking the ball cleanly. Rohit can score this many centuries because he has a rock solid defence.
“I think back to when he was still batting in the middle order, a game against South Africa when Dale Steyn had just taken two quick wickets. Rohit came in, played with a dead straight bat and built through his defence. You cannot score that many hundreds without a great defence, and Rohit has it,” the former cricketer pointed out.
Srikkanth also heaped praise on Jasprit Bumrah who snared three wickets against Sri Lanka and has been India’s main weapon in the bowling department in recent times.
“From a bowling perspective, it was all about Jasprit Bumrah again. He really is the leader of the Indian attack. He is the main weapon, he takes wickets, he can put on the brakes when the opposition is getting on top, he can do everything,” said Srikkanth, who was a key member of India’s World Cup winning team in 1983.
“We saw it against England when they were cutting loose, and against Sri Lanka again, when they were trying to attack. Looking ahead to the semifinal, Bumrah is going to be a key man for Virat Kohli. India are lucky to have someone with the ability to take wickets with the new ball, come back later and break a partnership if needed, and then to restrict the opposition at the death,” he said.
Srikkanth also backed K.L. Rahul to come good for India after the opener got his maiden World Cup hundred against the Lankans and helped India cruise to a facile victory.
“I am really pleased to see him (Rahul) get to a hundred because he has played very well up to now, making 40s and then 77 last time against Bangladesh.
“He is another guy who is capable of scoring big hundreds, as we saw in the Test series last year in England. At The Oval he scored a magnificent 149 and almost saw India home in a massive chase. He can score big runs and we are going to hear a lot more about him in the future,” Srikkanth said.
He also underlined that Rahul had to adjust as he was batting at No. 4 initially but after Shikhar Dhawan was ruled out of the World Cup with an injury, he had to come in and open the batting with Rohit.
“This has been particularly impressive because Rahul found himself in a difficult position trying to replace Shikhar Dhawan. Firstly, it is a real challenge going from No.4 to opening, but he has made that transition seamlessly.
“But in addition to that, he had to step into the shoes of Dhawan, who had just scored a hundred against Australia. That was a lot of pressure, but he has batted really well and now done something on a par with Dhawan,” Srikkanth said.
–IANS
dm/kk/arm