Simon Katich, former batter from Australia, has lambasted India captain Rohit Sharma because of his bowling changes that led to the Indians being kissed by a 10-wicket loss in the Pink-Ball Test in Adelaide. Last week’s loss was India’s fourth-straight under Rohit bleeding at Tests, with the previous three snatched at home from New Zealand last month. In a recent interaction, Katich believed Rohit was not rotating the bowlers as his deputy Jasprit Bumrah would and did manage after India’s 295 runs triumph over Australia in the first test in Perth.
“Clearly, when comparing the two results, Perth is one such where Rohit Sharma missed out. And I thought Bumrah’s captaincy, particularly the use of his bowlers in the lengths that they bowled, was far superior to what we saw in Adelaide. In Perth late on Day 1 when Australia were 7/67, India attacked the stumps and bowled much fuller and straighter lengths,” Katich is said to have told ‘Around the Wicket’ podcast during an interaction.
Katich also pushed Rohit to be a little more intuitive as captain, especially when he would be fielding slips.
“However, under the courtesy ‘pitch map for Adelaide,’ on the evening of Day 1, it was much shorter and wider and pitch locations at the 7-8 meter mark. So they missed a trick. Rohit Sharma at first slip; he saw it all unfold. He needs to be a little more proactive with his quicks when that’s going on-they managed to come out of that particular session with just one down and thus went on to win the Test,” he added.
Rohit has to keep his tools sharp, as India looks to finalize its winning combination, with just three games left on the meter.
Now at one-and-one in the series of five Tests, India lost its second Test by 10 wickets. The first match held in Perth was won by the visitors, who ended the series opener with a margin of 295 runs. The third Test will be played on Saturday in the Gabba, Brisbane.