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Former India cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has hit out at Team India skipper Rohit Sharma after he had yet another dismal outing in the middle in the ongoing pink-ball Test at the Adelaide Oval. It is to be noted that Rohit Sharma returned at the helm in the second Test of the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy series after missing the opening Test in Perth due to the birth of his second child with wife Ritika Sajdeh.
On his return, Rohit Sharma fell against Scott Boland in the first innings at the score of three off 23 deliveries. He continued his poor run of form as he was clean bowled off Pat Cummins’ delivery after scoring just six runs off 15 deliveries.
Rohit Sharma draws criticism after poor scores in second BGT Test in Adelaide
Rohit Sharma, who was dismissed for single-digit scores in both innings, has drawn criticism from all corners. Speaking after end of Day 2’s play at the Adelaide Oval, former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar opined that Rohit Sharma’s body language was not great during his short stay and his innings showed lack of preparation. “The way he looked as well when he was batting out there, the body language just showed a complete lack of confidence. For somebody ho is struggling for runs coming a few days before the Test and having a quarter of a warm-up game is just not ideal preparation,” Sanjay Manjrekar said while speaking on ESPNcricinfo.
“There is more to it because even in India, on those kind of pitches, people like Matt Henry were troubling him. There was one innings where there was a review that saved him, but soon after, he was out with the ball going through his defence in the very same way, when he took a small step forward and the bat was just dangling there, hoping that the ball comes and hits it,” Manjrekar added.
Speaking of the ongoing pink-ball Test, at the end of Day 2’s play in Adelaide, India were 128/5 with Nitish Kumar Reddy (15) and Rishabh Pant (28) in the middle as they trailed Australia by 29 runs. However, the hosts have been up top in the pink-ball Test, courtesy their pace attack including the likes of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Scott Boland.
