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Former India opener Aakash Chopra has praised Rohit Sharma for his modified approach that brought him success in the recently-concluded Test series against England. Rohit, along with KL Rahul, provided quite a few solid starts for Team India in the Test series, playing a pivotal role in the visitors taking a 2-1 lead.
Rohit Sharma scored 368 runs in four Tests while facing a total of 866 deliveries. Aakash Chopra noted how batting in England requires tremendous patience and discipline and compared Sharma's exploits to Sachin Tendulkar's iconic 241 in Sydney back in 2004.
Tendulkar's famous knock in Syndey is particularly well known for its sheer will-power. The Master Blaster did not play a single cover drive during the innings after coming into the match on the back of poor form.
Chopra feels that Sharma took a leaf out of Tendulkar's book by curbing his natural instincts. Writing in his column for ESPN Cricinfo, Chopra opined:
"The first instinct against James Anderson and Ollie Robinson was to be defensive. Unless the ball was really full, he wouldn't attempt driving it. He would trust his judgement of where the off stump was and would leave a lot of deliveries alone. The ones coming in, once again, would be dealt with defensively.
"Sometimes you drift away from your initial plans of self-denial once the feet start moving freely and you're more confident about the pace and bounce of the surface but Rohit's discipline was quite similar to Sachin Tendulkar's discipline in not playing the cover drive at all in his famous knock of 241 not out in Sydney in 2004," Chopra opined
Rohit Sharma ended the series as India's highest run-scorer. The tour ended on an abrupt note with the fifth Test being abandoned due to a Covid-19 outbreak in the Indian camp.
The move to open with Rohit Sharma was considered a final throw of the dice: Aakash Chopra
Rohit Sharma, who began his Test career with a century, quickly fell down the pecking order and was struggling to find rhythm in the middle order, especially overseas. He was picked to open the innings in the longest format following his consistent success in white ball cricket at the top of the order.
Chopra claimed that it was a last resort move to revive his career in whites, He added:
"Rohit is a runaway match-winner in white-ball cricket, but in Test cricket, his promotion to open the innings was considered a final throw of the dice to revive his career in the format, and also an attempt to get him to do what Virender Sehwag, another stroke-maker of high quality, did in the same role."
Rohit Sharma will next be seen leading the Mumbai Indians in the second leg of the 2021 IPL.
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