Michael Atherton talks about fear in Rohit Sharma for India place, Hussain shuts him down

After India's shock exit from the T20 World Cup 2022, questions are being asked about the place of senior players in the T20I team. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar are all under the scanner with experts suggesting that the BCCI should go into the next T20 World Cup with a younger lot. Meanwhile, questions are also being raised around the intent shown by some of the players at the recently-concluded World Cup, which eventually saw India lose the crucial semifinal game against England and get knocked out of the tournament. 

You're talking about Rohit Sharma, who has got two (three) 200s in ODI cricket: Hussain

Former England cricketer Michael Atherton is among the many who have questioned the intent of India's top order, including Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul. During a conversation with former England captain Nasser Hussain, Atherton asked whether the fear of losing their spot stops the Indian batters to bat freely. Hussain shut down Atherton by saying that Rohit is someone who has got three double centuries in ODI cricket so there should not be a question about his intent to bat freely. 

"You talk about the Morgan impact on England and rightly so. But do you think it's harder in India for two reasons, one is the number of cricketers they have so obviously the competition is greater? You kind of feel, if you lose your place and somebody comes in, you might get your spot back again. And also the differential between the match fees paid by BCCI and sponsorship arrangements that these big names like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and KL Rahul, there's a huge differential, much bigger than England. Do you think these two factors make it more difficult for India?" he said during a discussion on Sky Sports.

"I think you are complicating things. I wouldn't be worried if they weren't incredibly talented cricketers. You're not talking about someone who is on the edge of the seat for a place in the side. You're talking about Rohit Sharma, who has got two (three) double hundreds in ODI cricket, so the guy can smash it. You're talking about KL Rahul, when you do see him bat. I think it's the fear," Hussain replied.

Rohit & Rahul at T20 World Cup 2022

Rohit did show a lot of intent since he took over as Team India's captain after the last year's World Cup. However, he has been unable to get desired results with the bat failing to score big runs on most occasions. KL Rahul, on the other hand, has not been in the best of form ever since he made a comeback from an injury. Both players failed miserably at the T20 World Cup 2022, getting dismissed for low scores in almost every game of the competition. 

Image: AP/Twitter/BCCI