Former Indian wicket-keeper batter Saba Karim believes it will be very difficult for Team India to win against England if Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will not be at their best. Both of these veteran batters were not in the best of forms in the IPL and they will need to turn the tables in the one-off Test match against England.
Virat Kohli had a disappointing season for RCB as he scored 341 runs from his 16 appearances at an average of 22.73. Furthermore, his strike rate was below par as he scored at 115.99.
On the other hand, Rohit Sharma scored 268 runs in 14 matches for Mumbai Indians at an average of 19.14 and a strike rate of 120.17. Both Virat and Rohit were rested for the five-match T20I series against South Africa.
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma was the top performer for India on their tour to England in 2021. The right-hander had scored 368 runs in four Test matches at an average of 52.57 and thus it will be crucial for him to provide good starts to the team.
Furthermore, KL Rahul is ruled out of the rescheduled Test and Rohit will open the innings with Shubman Gill. Moreover, Virat Kohli had scored his last Test hundred back in 2019 in the pink-ball Test match against Bangladesh at Kolkata.
Saba Karim said while talking to India News, ”Yes, it will definitely impact. It will be very difficult to win if your main batters don’t score runs. We have seen where England’s strengths lie and to counter that it is necessary that your match-winners, who have the experience, score runs, the way Joe Root and Ben Stokes did for England.”
“The main players will have to score runs in big matches. You are talking about Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, both of them will have to find a solution in the end. However big the coach might be, a coach can only help you to a certain extent, you only have to go and bat in the middle according to your strengths.”
On the other hand, England are in fine form as they defeated New Zealand in the first two Test matches and thus India will have their work cut out.
Karim added that Virat Kohli scoring runs is absolutely necessary for Team India.
“I feel now that the captaincy burden has been removed from Virat Kohli’s shoulders, if he bats more freely, concentrates on his preparation and bats while thinking about how the bowler is trying to get him out, we will see runs from him again. Virat scoring runs is extremely necessary for India.”
The rescheduled Test match will take place at Edgbaston from July 1.
