“Rohit Sharma is in the XI because of his batting” - Saba Karim urges Indian captain not to lose focus with willow

Team India captain Rohit Sharma. Pic: Getty Images

Former wicketkeeper-batter Saba Karim has opined that Indian captain Rohit Sharma needs to be mindful of not losing his focus with the bat, having been named captain in all three formats.

Under the new Indian skipper, the Men in Blue have whitewashed New Zealand, West Indies and Sri Lanka in the home T20I series’. However, Rohit’s performance with the willow has been inconsistent. The 34-year-old has a highest score of 44 from his last six T20I knocks.

Stating that these are still early days in Rohit’s captaincy tenure, Karim said on the "Khelneeti" podcast:

“Rohit Sharma is in the XI because of his batting. Captaincy is an additional responsibility. He should not lose focus with regards to batting. Lot of times we have seen that captains are not able to perform as well in their primary skill. This should not happen.”

Pointing out that leadership should refine a player’s skills, he added:

“This is just the starting phase for Rohit Sharma. He will gradually realize how important his runs are for the team. His performance will be crucial in Australia (during the T20 World Cup), where the grounds are big and the opposition have top-quality bowlers. So yes, Rohit Sharma needs to work on this area.”

During the final T20I against Sri Lanka, Rohit (125 matches) surpassed Shoaib Malik (124 matches) to become the most-capped men's T20I player.

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“He is the kind of player India need in the middle-order” - Rajkumar Sharma on Shreyas Iyer

While Rohit had a disappointing series against Sri Lanka, Shreyas Iyer scored unbeaten half-centuries in all three T20Is. Batting at No.3 in Virat Kohli’s absence, the 27-year-old amassed 204 runs to be adjudged Player of the Series.

Impressed with the elegant batter’s performance, Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma said:

“The way Shreyas Iyer paces his innings is very impressive. He can play big strokes and has a very good technique and temperament as well. He is the kind of player India need in the middle-order, someone who can steady the innings when Rohit or Kohli get out. Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav have shown the capability to do that.”

Sharma asserted that Shreyas is a strong contender for the T20 World Cup. He said:

“Shreyas’ performance is good news because we have been searching for good middle-order players since Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina. With Shreyas and Suryakumar in the middle and Rishabh Pant there as well, the middle-order looks solid. I am sure Shreyas will seal a World Cup spot considering his performances.”

The 27-year-old smashed an unbeaten 73 off 45 balls on Sunday as India beat Sri Lanka by six wickets to register yet another 3-0 clean sweep.