'I'm a huge fan of him' - Lockie Ferguson picks 'world-class' Rohit Sharma as very challenging to bowl against

No Indian can forget India’s semi-final oust in 2019 where the Virat Kohli-led side bowed down against the Kiwis. The semi-final saw India’s top order getting dismissed very early in the innings, with Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul and skipper Kohli being shown the exit door in the first four overs.

India fell to an 18-run defeat in a rain-hit game as batting efforts from Ravindra Jadeja and MS Dhoni eventually turned futile. New Zealand’s Lockie Ferguson, who was also a part of the semi-final, recently opened up about his country’s victory over the Men in Blue.

Ferguson said that it was great for the team to dismiss Rohit Sharma in the semi-final and heaped praise on the prolific Indian opener. “Rohit, I’m a huge fan of him, I think he’s an exceptional batter,” said Ferguson during an interview with Indranil Basu on Sportskeeda Cricket’s Facebook page.

Rohit picks up the length very quickly: Lockie Ferguson

Ferguson also revealed the toughest batsmen he has bowled to. The Kiwi pacer picked Rohit Sharma as his biggest challenge and also added other prominent names like David Warner, Virat Kohli and Steve Smith to the list.

“Good question, there’s quite a few. Rohit, I’ve found him very challenging. With him, if you don’t get him out quickly, he tends to go big. He picks up the length very quickly and where my strengths lie, batters play the wrong shot. He’s a world-class batter,” Ferguson said.

29-year-old Ferguson, who has donned the Kiwi jersey in a solitary Test, 37 ODIs and 8 T20Is, pointed out that these top-order batsmen are greatly satisfying to get out and termed them ‘world-class’.

“Steve Smith, David Warner, Virat Kohli – these guys are world-class for a reason. They’re always tough to bowl to but it feels good when you knock off the top order and have a chance to get to bowl to the middle order or the lower order,” he added.

Ferguson last braced the field in the ODI at Sydney against Australia where he scalped two wickets. The three-match series was eventually called off after the first ODI in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak.