London: With India vice-captain Rohit Sharma enjoying the form of his life in the ongoing World Cup, former opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth has pointed out that the Mumbai batsman not only hits the ball cleanly, but also has a rock solid defence and great temperament, which make him a world class batter.
Rohit notched up his fifth century of this World Cup against Sri Lanka on Saturday to become the batsman with most number of hundreds in a single edition of the showpiece event, breaking the record of four tons scored by former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara in 2015.
“India’s openers are flying right now and in Rohit Sharma they have someone who has it all. With three centuries in a row, five in total in this World Cup, he is in incredible form,” Srikkanth wrote in his column for the International Cricket Council (ICC).
“The opposition knows that you either get him out before he gets to 10, or the next pit stop is probably 100. In the last three years of his career, he has been outstandingly consistent in one-day cricket.
“I think the most important thing about him is his temperament. He is so cool and calm, and just never gets flustered. So many players start to panic if they don’t get runs during the Powerplay, but Rohit doesn’t. Even when he starts slowly, he is dangerous,” Srikkanth said.
“He has this ability to just shift through the gears, from second to fourth to sixth to eighth. By the time he gets to 120, he is in eighth gear. He has a fantastic striking ability and we saw that against Sri Lanka.
“But it is also important to remember that he does more than just striking the ball cleanly. Rohit can score this many centuries because he has a rock solid defence. I think back to when he was still batting in the middle order, a game against South Africa when Dale Steyn had just taken two quick wickets. Rohit came in, played with a dead straight bat and built through his defence. You cannot score that many hundreds without a great defence, and Rohit has it,” the former cricketer pointed out. IANS