Published 19:32 IST, January 16th 2021
Ricky Ponting criticises Rohit Sharma after his soft dismissal on Day 2 of Brisbane Test
Ricky Ponting was critical of Rohit Sharma's batting approach after his soft dismissal on Day 2 of the series-deciding 4th Test match at the Gabba, Brisbane
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Former Australian skipper Ricky Ponting has said that if opener Rohit Sharma wants to be a consistent batsman in Test cricket, then the Indian limited-overs vice-captain cannot gift his wicket away after a promising start.
After losing Shubman Gill early on, the 'Hitman' carried forward the momentum for India along with Cheteshwar Pujara. However, Rohit's blunder cost him his well-paced innings as he was dismissed for 44 runs after facing 74 deliveries.
'You've got to be better than that': Ricky Ponting
"It's easy to say that's the way he plays but you've got to be better than that. If you want to be a really good, consistent Test match batsman you can't just be going and throwing what could have been such a promising innings away like he did", cricket.com.au quoted Ponting as saying.
"He got to 44 comfortably, everything seemed to be hitting the middle of the bat, he just started to play some nice drives down the ground. And the trap was set for him as well, that mid-on fieldsman was three-quarters of the way back, there was also a deep forward square leg, so what Rohit was thinking there we'll never know. I'm sure Rohit would love to have his time over again," the three-time World Cup winner added.
Rohit Sharma fails to make the most of his good start
Sharma was dismissed in the 20th over of India's first innings just when he was six runs short of an impactful half-century. On the penultimate ball of that over, veteran offie Nathan Lyon had bowled one around the off stump and Rohit Sharma advanced the down track to deposit him into the stands in order to bring up his fifty.
However, that was not to be as he failed to get the timing as well as the distance and the ball went a long way up in the air. An alert Mitchell Starc who was stationed at long-on did not take his eyes off the ball till the very last moment as he ran forward and completed an excellent catch despite tumbling as the Australian players were ecstatic while Sharma had to take a long walk back to the pavilion just when it appeared that he would put the visitors in a commanding position on Day 2.
(With ANI Inputs)
19:32 IST, January 16th 2021