'The defence is a concern' - Sanjay Manjrekar dissects Rohit Sharma's struggle in Tests

Rohit Sharma has not been in a good touch in red-ball cricket. During the Bangladesh series, he scored just 42 runs in four innings. In the ongoing Test series against New Zealand, he scored two and 52 runs respectively in the first Test. He was expected to come good in the Pune Test, but was dismissed for a nine-ball duck in the first innings. 

As the struggles of India captain do not seem to cede, former India cricketer Sanjaya Manjrekar has lauded his temperament while highlighting the veteran’s lack of defensive technique. Rohit was cleaned up on two occasions in the ongoing series. While Ajaz Patel dislodged his timber in the second innings of the first Test while Tim Southee knocked the bails over in the first innings of the second Test.

Also Read: Gavaskar criticizes Rohit's captaincy approach

“Yes, the defence is a concern. Temperamentally, this guy is brilliant. He just maybe has to tighten his defence a little more. And I saw that happen in the second innings in the last Test,” Manjrekar said as quoted by TOI.

"He looked good, but clearly in the first innings, when there is a little bit in the pitch that same... We used to talk about Rohit Sharma's loose defence at the start of his international career. He would not take a step forward and would just react with the bat. That is starting to happen [again]," he added.

Speaking of the 37-year-old’s four innings against Bangladesh, he scored six and five runs respectively in the first Test. He looked in better touch in the second Test but could only manage 23 and eight runs respectively. The right-handed batter’s dismissals, he was picked by the spinner, Mehidy Hasan Miraz on both occasions in the second Test. Strikingly, on both instances, the Mumbaiker was aiming to defend the ball.