Rohit 'underAchiever' Sharma

[Sachin=GOD]

If he gets out for a single digit score in the next innings' date=' his average in the tournament would be in the early 30s - that's when he is supposedly having a good series.[/quote'] when he was selected for this tournament people here were giving gaalis to he selectors for this "foolish" selection. Nobody expected anything from him but he has made 2 fifties and 33 (in a chase of 176) and has had a great opening partnership with Dhawan in all 4 matches. Thats pretty good IMO.

[The Outsider]

Conversely if he hits a 100+ his average in the series would be around 50+ As of now, 4 matches 168 runs@42, thats good for an opener in this tournament

It is definitely good. However, the point is it's only good till now. One poor outing in the final can turn it into an average series because he has not built on the starts. It's crucial to build on starts because you will invariably go through a patch when you don't even get starts like Rohit did last year. It was the same thing with Watson when he was super consistent in tests without any big scores. His average during that period looked fine, but I had pointed out that if this is his best then his overall record will suffer greatly when he goes out of form. Similar thing with Rohit, if this is indeed close to his best, his overall average will keep hovering in the lower 30s over the long run which is simply not good enough for a top order ODI batsman, unless you have a strike rate like Gilchrist, Jayasuriya, or Sehwag.

[vvvslaxman]

Rohit's strike rate so far has been taken care by Dhawan . Rohit 76 Dhawan 99 strike rates in this series. Lowest among Indians. So he has couple of issues to address. Conversion of starts. Rotation of strike. I think if not like Vijay, he struggles to keep things going . When that doesn't happen you play some desperate shot and get out. One reason why Virat Kohli is successful. He uses his wrists to place the ball into gaps. Finding gaps is less risky than hitting over the fielders.

[The Outsider]

when he was selected for this tournament people here were giving gaalis to he selectors for this "foolish" selection. Nobody expected anything from him but he has made 2 fifties and 33 (in a chase of 176) and has had a great opening partnership with Dhawan in all 4 matches. Thats pretty good IMO.

For his ability, I certainly expected more from him in his career as well as this series. Throwing away starts is a crime, pretty soon he will hit a patch where he won't be getting these starts.

[saneindian]

It is definitely good. However, the point is it's only good till now. One poor outing in the final can turn it into an average series because he has not built on the starts. It's crucial to build on starts because you will invariably go through a patch when you don't even get starts like Rohit did last year. It was the same thing with Watson when he was super consistent in tests without any big scores. His average during that period looked fine, but I had pointed out that if this is his best then his overall record will suffer greatly when he goes out of form. Similar thing with Rohit, if this is indeed close to his best, his overall average will keep hovering in the lower 30s over the long run which is simply not good enough for a top order ODI batsman, unless you have a strike rate like Gilchrist, Jayasuriya, or Sehwag.

Don't think anyone has said he is playing at his best. Needs to convert these starts is the unanimous opinion

[Sachin=GOD]

For his ability' date= I certainly expected more from him in his career as well as this series. Throwing away starts is a crime, pretty soon he will hit a patch where he won't be getting these starts.

there I agree with you. I expected big things from him but till now he hasn't lived to the promise. But I had also said that he should open in ODIs and he's doing that now with certain amount of success - lets see what happens next....

[KFC_Zinger]

Decent so far in this CT but still doesn't capitalize on his starts. Yesterday was prime example.

Honestly if someone told me before the series that an opener (Sharma) would Avg 40+, I would take it any day.... Heck i would even take 30.... Y'day Sunny's attack was a tad harsh on him, Dhawan was dropped twice plus I felt during their partnership Rohit played Kulla better and Dhwan played Malinga better....

[G_B_]

I sort of agree with The outsider. Rohit has just not converted his starts into big ones. If he has a poor series in say WI then his average is going to come crashing down. You look at Shikar and clearly one of these days he is going to have a poor series. Just like anybody who has played cricket. But he is cashing in big time on the rich vein of form he has. Yesterday he played a piss poor shot to get out. It was not needed as India were well ahead of the RR and 110 odd runs were needed. No pressure what so ever.

[KFC_Zinger]

Rohit's strike rate so far has been taken care by Dhawan . Rohit 76 Dhawan 99 strike rates in this series. Lowest among Indians. So he has couple of issues to address. Conversion of starts. Rotation of strike. I think if not like Vijay' date=' he struggles to keep things going . When that doesn't happen you play some desperate shot and get out. One reason why Virat Kohli is successful. He uses his wrists to place the ball into gaps. Finding gaps is less risky than hitting over the fielders.[/quote'] Dhawan has been splendid this series, dont compare him with Rohit..... A strike rate of 75 odd with an avg of 40 for an opener in England is fine, sets the platform for Kohli / Dhoni / Raina n co..... Will take it if scores 40 odd @ 75 in Final.....

[adi B]

i dont mind this opening combo ,rohit`s main job is to see off the new ball and give a solid start,the RR will be taken care by dhawan.. rohit has changed his stance a bit,decent bat lift and solidified his technique which earlier looked very shaky and it appeared lazy

[vinaychowdary]

rohit is not been exposed.....dhawan is overshadowing him

[maniac]

For his ability' date=' I certainly expected more from him in his career as well as this series. Throwing away starts is a crime, [b']pretty soon he will hit a patch where he won't be getting these starts.

He still looks out of touch given his immense talent....The way he is able to convert that into something speaks volumes about his temparament and ability,I sense a purple patch right around the corner :two_thumbs_up:

[SLICKR392]

He has been decent but the knock against Sri Lanka was an ugly one with plenty of edges and mistimed shots. With all the chances he has got over the years, he hasn't done enough yet.

[maniac]

Whyare so many threads dissing Rohit lately :facepalm: the guy has done well in his last 5 games...Coming off of a succesful IPL which like it or not is the benchmark for LOI selections in India.....why is this thread relevant right now is beyond me....Also the analysis of how many through the edge is a novelty that I have never seen for anyother player who scored 35 runs in tough conditions at a decent S/R in a winning game.

[rkt.india]

Rohit's strike rate so far has been taken care by Dhawan . Rohit 76 Dhawan 99 strike rates in this series. Lowest among Indians. So he has couple of issues to address. Conversion of starts. Rotation of strike. I think if not like Vijay' date=' he struggles to keep things going . When that doesn't happen you play some desperate shot and get out. One reason why Virat Kohli is successful. He uses his wrists to place the ball into gaps. Finding gaps is less risky than hitting over the fielders.[/quote'] No. Even Kohli is not that good in picking up singles. Like yesterday, he was 18 in 42 balls at one stage and then he hit some boundaries.

[rkt.india]

He has been decent but the knock against Sri Lanka was an ugly one with plenty of edges and mistimed shots. With all the chances he has got over the years, he hasn't done enough yet.

every batsman was struggling on that pitch.

[KFC_Zinger]

Frankly what do people expect him to do..... I get a feeling, even if he averaged fifty some would still not have been happy..... Am glad he is playing ahead of Murli Vijay

[Prakat]

The curse of natural talent. When it comes that easily its hard to figure that you need to apply yourself to enter the big leagues. His temperament is suspect. Even Kohli, not too long ago, was known only for hitting beautiful drives straight to the fielder. He applied himself and started finding the gaps and now he's threading them like a pro. This is what Rohit needs to do consciously. Work on the long game. Failing to capitalize on starts is the equivalent to constantly losing junior staff after training them on the job. Unless most of them stay and go on to take managerial positions the company is going to do badly.

[afan]

He keeps the good balls away, but then manage to get out against the not so good ones...I just get the feeling that he might just be the difference tomoro against England...Yeah, just keep working the good balls away and blunt Finn n Anderson..Dhawan shud do the rest

[India-KXIP fan]

Wah! Wah!!! after scores of 65, 52, 18, 33 in 4 matches, you want to drop him... Next up - Kohli to be dropped because he made even less runs in this tournament.

This, wtf lol. Strong opening partnership is the reason for India's success this tournament so you want to change that partnership? OP I think your forgetting Rohit has plenty of talent, oozes class and has plenty of time to play the ball.