Deep Dasgupta believes Team India’s senior batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will continue facing the challenge of being ready after not playing competitive cricket for a few months. He pointed out that the two have had to play after long gaps, as they remain active in just one international format.
The former India cricketer suggested that maintaining peak performance throughout the year was difficult when a batter is not playing regularly. However, he observed that the two seasoned campaigners may have gotten used to it.
Dasgupta remarked in his recent YouTube video:
“That is going to remain a challenge whenever they come for an ODI series. There are chances that they will come after gaps of one and a half or two months. It’s been two years since they retired from Tests. The first year or so is the toughest because you don’t know how to schedule and stay at peak performance. When they were playing all formats, they knew they had to be at peak performance all the time. But in such situations, you need to know when to hit the peak because it will be difficult to sustain that in practice.”
“They’ve figured out their systems, and chances are that Virat and Rohit have different systems. I’m quite sure by now they know how to be spot on from the first game,” he added.
Kohli and Sharma were last seen in action during India’s three-match home ODI series against West Indies in September and October. Sharma scored 225 runs (32, 101, and 92) across three innings, while Kohli finished with 168 runs (139*, 29, and 0) in three outings.
“The ground dimensions are against Rohit” – Deep Dasgupta expects New Zealand to target Indian opener with short balls in 1st ODI
Deep Dasgupta feels the New Zealand pacers could look to bowl short to Rohit Sharma at Eden Park, given the venue’s big square boundaries. While the pull shot remains the 39-year-old’s strength, the cricketer-turned-commentator opined that the ground dimensions will be against him.
He observed in the same video:
“The ground dimensions are against Rohit in the first game because of the square boundaries. New Zealand have quick bowlers as well, and it’s obvious that they won’t bowl too full when there are big square boundaries. It will be a good fight between the New Zealand quicks and Rohit.”
The ODI series opener between India and New Zealand is set to be played at Eden Park on Wednesday, November 4.
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Edited by Aditya Suketu Desai
