"He would get his 20s or 30s and throw it away" - Former coach's stunning statement on why Rohit Sharma was made to open in Test cricket

Former India head coach Ravi Shastri revealed why the team management decided to promote Rohit Sharma to open in Test cricket. Shastri said they had observed how the right-handed batter was throwing away his wicket after getting starts lower down the order.

Rohit began opening the innings in 2019 after majorly batting in the lower middle-order following his debut in 2013. The 38-year-old averaged a healthy 42.81 while batting at the top, with nine centuries, including a best of 212 against South Africa.

Speaking on the latest episode of the ICC Review, the 62-year-old revealed that they decided Rohit would open the innings based on how well the veteran performed in the 2019 World Cup. He elaborated:

"He'd batted enough at five and six and he wasn't here and he wasn't there. He would get his 20s or 30s and throw it away. (I thought) let's put him under pressure and send him up (the order). And I remember telling him in the West Indies 'we want you to open'. This was (August) 2019, if I'm not mistaken, after that World Cup. He'd had a great World Cup, so his form was very good. And he might have thought of it for a little while, but he was OK."

Rohit's first-ever series as an opener was a stellar one, amassing 529 runs in four innings, averaging a jaw-dropping 132.25 and hitting three centuries against South Africa.

"I thought his best batting was in England" - Ravi Shastri on Rohit Sharma

Ravi Shastri. (Image Credits: Getty)

Shastri also recollected how well Rohit played to get a hundred on his debut as Test opener and felt he worked a lot to reap the rewards of it during the England tour in 2021. He added:

"Then he came in for the first Test match and he opened the innings and he got a hundred. If I'm not mistaken, he got a big 100 in that first innings and then he didn't look back because then he seemed to enjoy it. He figured it out and what I must say he worked a lot on his technique because I thought his best batting was in England where you really got to play a little differently and especially he had to play with soft hands and could leave (the ball) a lot. And he worked on it, which was very good. So, suddenly from nowhere, he was setting up games for you."

Rohit announced his retirement from Test cricket ahead of India's upcoming tour of England, after playing 67 matches in the format.