Image Credit- AP
Following England’s stunning victory over Team India
in the five-match Test series, legendary cricketer Geoffrey Boycott launched a
blistering assault on Rohit Sharma, claiming that the seasoned Indian opener is
past his peak in the game’s longest format. At Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi
International Stadium, Rohit and company lost shockingly by 28 runs to Ben
Stokes’ team, even though they had started as the favourites in the first match
of the series.
After England was dismissed for 246 in their opening
innings, Rohit’s Team India amassed an incredible 436. When the hosts batted
first against England, captain Rohit demonstrated his resolve with the bat by
hitting at a strike rate of more than 88. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who opened the
innings on song, scored 80 runs (74), but captain Rohit did not convert his
first-inning start. In the second innings against England, Rohit was out for 39
off 58 balls after making a 27 from 24 balls. Rohit’s Team India lost the first
Test of the series on Saturday after folding for 202 in the face of a 231-run
goal.
Former England cricketer Boycott shared his thoughts
on Rohit’s batting performance, pointing up that the seasoned opener has only
amassed two hundreds for the Asian heavyweights at home. The Englishman
predicted that Stokes’ team might record a historic series victory over the
hosts in their backyard, given that India would be without Virat Kohli and
Ravindra Jadeja for the second Test. Boycott also boldly asserted something
concerning India’s captain of all formats.
“Their captain Rohit Sharma is nearly 37 and past his
best. He makes pretty cameos but has only scored two Test hundreds at home in
four years. They are also weak in the field. This India team is ripe for the
taking, and England have a golden chance to be the first side to topple them on
their own patch for 12 years. India badly miss Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja
has a hamstring injury and will not play the second Test,” Boycott wrote
in his column for the Telegraph.