Indore, Feb 27 () Former India cricketer Mohammad Kaif feels that captain Rohit Sharma will be a key player for the hosts’ in the last two Tests of the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy, adding that aspiring batters should watch star opener’s knocks to understand how to bat on sub-continental pitches.
With the third Test against Australia starting from March 1 in Indore, a lot of spotlight will be on how Rohit performs for India at the top of the order. He began the series with a magnificent 120 in the first Test at Nagpur, followed by scores of 32 and 21 in the second game at New Delhi.
“I think it will be Rohit Sharma, he’s in very good form, scoring lots of runs, his contribution in the second test was very important, and he made a statement in terms of his batting, of how to play cricket on a turning track. Even though there was a fielder at long-on, Rohit Sharma attacked the ball and beat the fielder.
So, even if there is a fielder at long on, he backs his ability to beat the fielder and hits a six. Rohit Sharma has done this and every aspiring batter should watch his footage to understand where to hit a ball. So, I’m pretty confident that Rohit Sharma will perform in both the final test matches,” said Kaif on ‘Follow the Blues’ show on Star Sports.
Meanwhile, the third test will pose a do or die scenario for Australia as they try to salvage a victory from this series after being 2-0 behind through losses in Nagpur and New Delhi.
The 42-year-old Kaif thinks that it will be very hard for the visitors’ to make a comeback in the Tests at Indore and Ahmedabad, citing a strong Indian bowling line-up, with ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin being the most experienced bowler.
“If we talk about both test matches, Ashwin’s spell on the third day off the test match in Kotla, after having a tough second day with Travis Head settled in, coming in the next day and dismissing Travis Head really changed the game. So, we have many bowlers like that who can change the game for us,” he said.
“We spoke about Ashwin, Jadeja is another player who can change the game for us. And we haven’t even come to Axar Patel and Siraj’s bowling. Siraj didn’t even bowl in the second innings. So we have many match winners like that. So, in my opinion it will be very hard for Australia to make a comeback from here,” he added.
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