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As Rohit Sharma lost his wicket for 47-ball 26, reports of the opener retiring in the third and last ODI of the series emerged. A day earlier, Sports Tak had reported that Rohit has been given a free hand by head coach Gautam Gambhir to play his natural game. But, Rohit was far from his natural game and the Lord’s ODI could be the last ODI of his international career. Amid uncertainty around the opener’s ODI future, India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak has addressed concerns around the 39-year-old’s form. Kotak doesn't feel Rohit is under any pressure. He expressed that it seemed like Rohit will get a big score in the second ODI but it wasn't to be.
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"I don't think a player as big as Rohit can feel the pressure," Kotak said in the post-match press conference. "He's too good a player to feel that. Yes he hasn't scored in two games. I don't think that makes any difference. But today also it looked like he'll get a good innings but that's okay.”
While skipper Shubman Gill scored a breezy 30-ball 31 before a soft dismissal, Rohit couldn't find his rhythm. Virat Kohli came but he was able to find boundaries as well but Rohit couldn't get going. Eventually, the pressure caught up with him. He top-edged one trying to play a sweep against off-spinner Will Jacks in his first over. A few yards away from him, wicketkeeper Jos Buttler took an easy catch to dismiss him. The veteran opener looked dejected as he walked back to the dressing room having scored 26 runs from 47 balls with a strike rate of 55.32 which is very unlike his 'Hitman' image.
After scores of 11 and 26 in the first two ODIs, Rohit has been backed by Kotak to come good in the decider of the series at Lord's, London, on July 19. The batting coach also refused to believe that Rohit was struggling in his innings. Kotak also pointed out that Rohit did not get many deliveries in the slot to play his shots.
"You might see [a] completely different innings from Rohit Sharma in Lord's. I wouldn't use the word struggling, but maybe the shots he normally plays on the up, which is because of the double bounce, probably he felt it was not comfortable,” Kotak added.
Rohit’s form before England tour
Before the tour of England, Rohit registered a 79-run knock against Afghanistan in the third ODI of the series. He scored 143 runs in the home ODI series against the Afghan side.
Rohit’s ODI career numbers ahead of Lord’s ODI
If Rohit decides to retire after the Lord's ODI, he will bid goodbye to the ODI format as the seventh-highest run-scorer. In the series opener, he had surpassed former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq on the list. From 287 ODIs, he has scored 11,57 runs averaging 48.58. He has 33 hundreds and 62 half-centuries in ODIs. His strike rate of 92.76 is also the highest among batters with 10,000 or more ODI runs.
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