Rohit Sharma is the solution Team India was seeking as an opener: Virat Kohli’s childhood coach Rajkumar Sharma

Rohit Sharma was the glittering hero as India defeated South Africa in the first Test played in Visakhapatnam by 203 runs. Sharma, who was trusted with the responsibility of opening the innings, slammed 176 and 127 runs in the two innings, making a plethora of records during the two knocks. He was adjudged the Man of the Match as well for his contribution.

There were many detractors of the decision of asking Sharma to go up the order instead of batting at no.6. His success at the top in the limited-overs formats prompted the move which paid off amazingly well. Rohit became the first batsman in Tests to hit twin centuries in his debut as an opener and the first Indian opener since Sunil Gavaskar to make two centuries as an opener.

Virat Kohli’s childhood coach feels Rohit Sharma is the long-term solution to India’s opening woes in Tests

The decision for Rohit to open was a collective one with backing from Indian captain Virat Kohli. The failures of KL Rahul, Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan and injury to Prithvi Shaw has led to the Mumbai Indians captain being promoted to the top after playing 27 Tests in the middle order. Kohli’s childhood coach, Rajkumar Sharma has been happy with selectors and team management pulling the trigger on Rohit opening in Test matches. He feels that they have finally found the established opener that they were looking for.

“Rohit is an outstanding player. Everyone knows about the talent he possesses. He was known for his batting in the ODI format, but he showed everyone that he can be a great Test player as well. India has found an established opener now. He can accelerate whenever the team requires him to. I think the team has found another Sehwag. He scored five hundreds in the World Cup and he has earned his place in the Test squad,” Rajkumar was quoted as saying by Times of India.

Meanwhile, it was a clinical performance from the Indian team in the first Test. Ravichandran Ashwin picked 7/145 on his Test comeback, while Mohammed Shami picked 5/35 in the second innings to help rout the Proteas. Ravindra Jadeja had a brilliant all-around show with both the bat and the ball, picking four wickets in the second innings. The next Test will be played from October 10 in Pune.

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