IND vs ENG: Opener Rohit Sharma May Be Under Pressure To Perform

Cricket Image for IND vs ENG: Opener Rohit Sharma May Be Under Pressure To Perform (Rohit Sharma (Image Source: Twitter))

Though India skipper Virat Kohli had confirmed prior to the first Test that both Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill would be persisted with throughout the series, the former is likely to be under pressure when India take on England in the second Test at the MA Chidambaram Stadium from Saturday.

Sharma, the senior of the two openers, did well in 2019 when he was promoted up the batting order to open in Visakhapatnam against South Africa. He scored 176, 127, 14, 212, 6, and 21 for a total of 556 runs at an average of 92.66 and all those runs came at home.

The Mumbai batsman did not play for over a year, due to injury and Covid-19, and returned to Test cricket only last month in Australia. The returns have been pretty ordinary. He has made 26, 52, 44, 7, 6, and 12 for a total of 147 at an average of 24.50.

Sharma's poor run of scores has reflected in India's poor opening starts. When he joined the playing XI for the third Test in Sydney, India seemed to have found a solution as he and Gill provided 70 and 71-run starts to the team. India had until his comeback had been struggling to muster up proper opening partnerships - 16, 27, 30, 8, 0, 7, 0, 16.

But after stands of 70 and 71 with Gill, there was nothing worthy of note over the next four innings across two Tests. The two put on 11 and 18 in the fourth and final Test vs Australia at the Gabba, and 19 and 25 in the first Test against England in Chennai last week.

While Gill has been getting runs even in the last four innings - 50 in the second innings in Chennai and 91 in the second innings in Brisbane, Sharma has made 44, 7, 6, and 12 in the last four outings.

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