Rohit Sharma has seen a comeback to the Indian setup, after retiring from all other formats. Following a lot of buzz around his place in the national team and the diktat from BCCI, he has also showed a rich vein of form when it comes to the domestic circuit. Yet, the return has been marred with scepticism as the ongoing New Zealand ODI series has yet to see the best of him.
He scored 26 of 29 deliveries in the first ODI, and seemed to imitate the same in the second ODI, where he fell for just 24, in an almost identical manner.
It was a full delivery by Kyle Jamieson, at a speed of 131ks, which Rohit made space for and tried to loft it through the extra covers, only for the bat to turn and the mid-off fielder, run back to catch it close to his chest.
The dismissal in the second match replicated this exact act. Except in this case it was Kris Clarke who slid up a cross-seam delivery that bounced a little more than the usual, and Rohit having stepped out tried to lift it through the extra cover, with the bat turning, and the ball falling into the safe hands of Will Young
Sunil Gavaskar, who was at the commentary box at the moment, reiterated this, and suggested Rohit would always fail at playing such a shot, for it's not his strong suit, and that he has always been one who has put his weight on the ball, than away from it. He suggested it be best if he was looking to play it over the mid-off fielder, and not extra cover, without opening the face of his bat.
What started with Rohit's wicket, now has ended up putting India in a tumultuous position, with a series of wickets cascading down and India, now at the position of 139-4, by the end of the 29th over. With KL Rahul and Jadeja on the crease, India has a big sunny day ahead to put up a defendable score.
