Former New Zealand fast bowler Simon Doull has showered praise on Rohit Sharma after the Indian skipper scored a fine knock of 120 runs in the first Test match against Australia at the VCA Stadium, Nagpur to help the home team post 400 runs on the board and take a lead of 223 runs.
Doull stated Rohit is a tough player who fights when things are hard. Rohit has certainly taken a huge jump in his Test career in the last couple of seasons as he has been batting at his absolute best. The Indian opener scored 368 runs in four Test matches against England in 2021 and since then he has grown in confidence.
The talisman has all the experience under his belt and he is making the most of it. Rohit has been delivering the goods as a Test opener and he will look to continue the good form in the rest of the series against Australia.
“I think Rohit is one of those cricketers. When things are tough, he fights. He’s just one of those tough blokes who stands up when the opposition is coming at you. He says come at me if you want. I’ll come at you harder,” Doull told Sports Yaari.
The renowned commentator also lauded Rohit Sharma’s aggressive captaincy and he feels the confidence was there to be seen in his leadership.
“His captaincy is a little bit like that as well. When it’s been a bit hard, he has sort of found a way to fight through it. He has fought fire with fire. He was quite aggressive in his innings as well. When he plays with that sort of confidence, he puffs the chest out and takes on the opposition. I like that about him,” Doull added.
On the other hand, Doull urged the touring sides not to pick spinners in their team just for the sake of it and wants them to back their best bowlers.
“Teams going to India tend to pick spinners for the sake of picking one rather than picking their best bowlers. If your spinners aren’t quality enough against high-quality batting, then they are not going to have success,” said Doull.
Doull feels the biggest mistake Australia made in their selection was leaving Travis Head out of the playing XI.
“I think the biggest mistake they did was leaving Travis Head out. He was one of their best batters in Test cricket in recent times along with Labuschagne and Smith,” Doull added.
The second Test match will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi from Friday.
