Should Rohit Sharma curb his aggression vs Australia? Manjrekar and Kumble debate

Former India cricketer and renowned expert Sanjay Manjrekar shed light on how skipper Rohit Sharma should approach the batting in the upcoming semifinal of the Champions Trophy 2025 against Australia. Notably, the game will be played in Dubai, on Tuesday, March 4.

Sharma is yet to let his bat do the talking in the coveted ICC mega event. So far, he has managed to score 76 runs in the competition and the team will be expecting him to go big when it matters for the Men in Blue. Chiming in on the possible approach the Indian captain should take, Manjrekar opined that the 41-year-old should bide his time in the crease and take the game deep by playing for as long as possible. The former Indian cricketer pointed out how Rohit can leverage his stroke-making in the middle phases of the game and take on the Australian spinners.

"I think the question is about Rohit Sharma—really, how does he approach the game? Shubman Gill will play the way he does, Virat Kohli will play in his usual style, and Shreyas Iyer will bat as he has been doing. We’ll get to KL Rahul later, but Rohit Sharma could see this as an opportunity, and think long term,” Manjrekar was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

“This isn’t the kind of pitch where you’re aiming to score 350. Rohit Sharma is a good player against spin, and if he stays long enough, he could face all the spinners. We’ve seen his strike rate earlier in the show, and it's actually quite similar against both pace and spin, which is not the case for all the batters. So, there’s an incentive for him to bat a little longer,” he further added.

'He needs to bat not just for first 10 overs but help India off to strong start' - Kumble on Rohit Sharma

Apart from Majrekar, the former legendary India legspinner Anil Kumble also put forth his views on what Rohit Sharma should do in order to dominate Australia in the knockout game. Interestingly, he felt that even though the big-hitter may still back himself to play freely in his usual fashion at the top of the order without worrying about the result, to give India a flying start, if Rohit stays till the 20th over, Team India can post a big total on the board against the Men in Yellow. 

"Yes, I agree that someone like Rohit Sharma, if he can bat until the 20th over, especially in the semi-final, would be crucial. He’ll play his natural game and won’t come in and take his time—he’ll back himself to play the way he always does. The key is that, for India’s sake, he needs to bat not just for the first 10 overs but to help get India off to a strong start. That’s something he has done in the past, but now we want him to go beyond that and push the innings deeper,” Kumble stated.

Meanwhile, speaking of Rohit Sharma's Champions Trophy campaign in terms of batting so far, in India's tournament opener, he scored 41 runs against Bangladesh. So he did get a start but failed to convert it into a big knock. Thereafter, against the arch-rivals Pakistan, he got dismissed on 20 after pacer Shaheen Afridi disturbed his timber with a sensational inswinging yorker. While against New Zealand, he continued his rough patch as pacer Kyle Jamieson got him out cheaply. Hence, the hitman will be itching to take on Australia in the semifinal, irrespective of whether India bats first or chases in the match.