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After a campaign-threatening defeat to old foes New Zealand, there have been plenty of questions raised on the changes India made in their batting order that led to another top order collapse. The surprise shuffle forced Rohit Sharma to come at no.3 as Ishan Kishan was preferred as an opener over the veteran alongside KL Rahul against Kiwi pace attack. Former Pakistan cricketer Aqib Javed was shocked by the move and went on to say that “one blow of Shaheen Afridi” led to the changes.
“Rohit Sharma is one of the best players in T20 cricket but after one blow of Shaheen Shah Afridi, you changed your openers. You brought in Ishan Kishan as he is a leftie because they were afraid of putting two righties against [Trent] Boult, so Rohit was made to bat at number three,” Javed told PTV Sports.
There was a lot of criticism directed towards Rohit after he was outsmarted by Shaheen’s inswinging yorker. Some felt that Rohit is more likely to struggle against left-arm pacers because of his dismal record against them in past couple of years. Javed went on to say that Rohit was “hiding” instead of opening against the Kiwis.
“It was only two overs [opening spell] and being one of the best in the world, Rohit should have gone out as an opener rather than hiding. It’s all about confidence. If your number one player is not confident and ready to take the charge, it sends the same message to the entire team,” the 49-year-old added.
After two consecutive defeats, India’s chances of qualifying for the semi-finals look bleak. Even if they manage to win all three of their remaining matches by big margins, it will all come down to results of other games and teams’ net run rate at the end of group stage matches.
