Nasser Hussain has a crucial advice for Rohit Sharma to succeed in overseas Tests

For Rohit Sharma 2019 was a career-changing year. It was not only because he scored five centuries in a single edition of a World Cup, but because he took a different step ahead in Test career. The right-handed batsman was given an opportunity to open the batting in Test cricket for the first time in 2019. And he responded with two centuries in a single Test match. A couple of weeks later, he got a double ton in red-ball cricket to further cement his spot in the longer format.

Recently, during an interaction, former England skipper Nasser Hussain had some advice for the Indian opener. Sharma, who scored back-to-back centuries in the first two Test matches of his career had failed to find his feet after that. However, his shift to the top order has just changed his batting altogether.

If Rohit Sharma is not a Test match opener, I’ve been watching a different game: Nasser Hussain

“If Rohit Sharma is not a Test match opener, I’ve been watching a different game… If you go and ask fellow cricketers who your favourite player is, a lot of them will say, Rohit Sharma,” Hussain said in a chat show on Sony Ten’s ‘Pit Stop’. “Fellow cricketers watch Rohit Sharma and say this bloke seems to have so much time to bat,” he added.

Hussain further talked about how Test cricket is about giving time to the new ball. He gave an example of Virat Kohli, who had failed to succeed in England in 2014. However, the Indian captain scored close to 600 runs on his next trip to England in 2018.

“Test match cricket at the top of the order is about having time, it’s about having a technique as well. You have to cover your off stump, like Virat (Kohli) did in England against (James) Anderson, the way he left him outside after all his problems of the previous tour, that is a Test match cricketer,” Hussain said.

According to the former English captain, adjusting a little bit of his technique as Kohli did will help Sharma in places like England. Hussain advised Rohit to take some time with the new ball before going for his shots.

“And that’s the only thing Rohit has to do when he goes away from home and when the ball is moving around. He has to just spend half an hour and say to the bowler you can have this half hour I’m going to leave you, I’m going to take the slip cordon out of play,” Hussain added.

The former England skipper also was of an opinion that Rohit or any opener should be given a longer run in Test cricket. He talked about how the Australia series could a great one for Sharma and other Indian batters considering the batting-friendly wickets Down Under. He expressed his excitement for the Australia-India Test series and also pointed out that the Pink-ball Test will be a bit difficult for the batsmen.