Simon Katich has criticised India captain Rohit Sharma for his bowling changes in Adelaide.© AFP
Former Australia batter Simon Katich criticised India captain Rohit Sharma for his bowling changes during the 10-wicket loss in the Pink-Ball Test in Adelaide. The loss last week was India’s fourth-straight in Test under Rohit’s captaincy, having conceded three games at home to New Zealand last month. In a recent interaction, Katich feels Rohit failed to rotate his bowlers, something his deputy Jasprit Bumrah managed to do pretty well during India’s 295-run win over Australia in the series-opener in Perth.
“When you compare the two results, obviously, in Perth, Rohit Sharma missed out. And I thought Bumrah’s captaincy, and particularly, the use of his bowlers in the length that they bowled, was far superior to what we saw in Adelaide. In Perth late on Day 1 when Australia were 7/67, India attacked the stumps and bowled much fuller and straighter lengths,” Katich said during an interaction with ‘Around the Wicket’ podcast.
Katich also urged Rohit to be a bit more proactive as captain, especially when he is fielding in the slips.
“Whereas, when you look at the pitch map for Adelaide, on the night of Day 1, they were a lot shorter and wider, and around the 7-8 meter mark. So they missed a trick. Rohit Sharma was at first slip; he saw it all unfold. He needs to be a bit more proactive with his quicks when that’s happening. Because Australia got out of jail in that session only being one down and as a result, went on to win the Test,” he added.
Rohit will have his task cut out as India look to jot down on a winning combination with three games to go.
The five-Test series is currently tied 1-1 after India lost the second Test by 10 wickets. The visitors had won the series opener at Perth by 295 runs. The third Test begins on Saturday at at the Gabba, Brisbane.
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