Melbourne: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is not too much worried about Rohit Sharma’s struggling form in the ongoing cricket World Cup and said that the important thing was to see the manner of his batting rather than the number of runs he has scored.
Rohit has so far scored 159 runs in six group league matches at a mediocre average of 31.8 with two half-centuries to his credit.
The only cricketer in the world to score two double centuries in ODIs, Rohit has got good starts in most games but has been able to convert them into 50-plus scores in only two matches — against UAE (57 not out) and Ireland (64).
Dhoni would not, however, read too much on Rohit’s dip in form. Rather, he has all positive words for his teammate.
“Well, we have to consider the fact there have been instances where we have chased quite a few times so far in the tournament, and if the opposition (UAE, West Indies) have not scored too many runs, the openers, they can’t score the same number of runs,” he said in Rohit’s defence. Dhoni then explained as to why it’s important to take note of the manner in which someone is batting rather than the volume of runs accumulated.
“What is important is to see what kind of a start they have got. I feel Rohit has batted really well so far. He looks quite calm and composed, and at the same time he’s playing the shots really well. That’s something of a key factor,” said the captain.
“It’s not always about the runs. We have seen batsmen who are playing really well but they have not scored runs (in matches), and all of a sudden you see a game where they score really big and they come back. So it’s not really being out of form. What’s important is to spend time in the middle, and I think Rohit has done that,” he said. (PTI)
