India’s Test captain, Rohit Sharma, is under a tremendous amount of pressure for his exploits with the bat in the longest format of the game. He has had a forgettable tour so far with the bat in the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024/25. After batting in the middle order in Adelaide and Brisbane, Sharma came out to bat at the opening spot in the first innings in Melbourne after Australia had scored 474 runs in their first innings.
However, his stay at the crease did not last long as he was dismissed by Pat Cummins. It was a harmless delivery from Cummins and a nothing-shot from Sharma. It was a checked pull, and the ball went up in the air and was taken safely by Scott Boland. Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has slammed Rohit Sharma for that shot.
What did Ricky Ponting say about Rohit Sharma?
Ponting said that Sharma looked underconfident and not committed to his shot despite being one of the best players to play the pull or the hook shot. He was not aggressive and was looking to just tap it away which led to his downfall.
“That’s just a lazy, not switched on, not up for the moment type of shot. He’s been known as one of the best hookers and pullers of the ball since he’s made his debut but that’s just not there. It’s nothing. It’s not committed, not really looking to be aggressive, he’s just looking to tap it on the head,” Ponting told Channel 7.
Ponting also stated that the ball might have held in the wicket and also seamed away a little bit. However, he added that if any batter has to score runs against this world-class Australian bowling attack, then they have to be confident and focused always.
“Might have held in the wicket yes, it might have seamed away from him a fraction. But if you’re going to survive against this Australian attack, you’ve got to be switched on. You’ve got to be making good decisions. If you’re not, they’ll knock you over every time,” Ponting said.
Meanwhile, India ended the day with 164 runs for the loss of five wickets. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 82 runs but was involved in a mix-up with Virat Kohli at the end of the day’s play and was run out. Soon after, Kohli nicked one off Scott Boland to Alex Carey and departed for 36 runs. Indian lower order have to bat really well if they need to come back into this Test match.
