IND vs AUS 2023: Rohit Sharma is not celebrated enough as a Test opener – Dinesh Karthik

India’s wicket-keeper bat Dinesh Karthik reckons Rohit Sharma is not celebrated enough as a Test opener. Rohit scored a match-winning knock of 120 runs in the first innings of the opening Test match against Australia at the VCA Stadium, Nagpur. This was Rohit’s ninth Test century and it helped India post 400 runs on the board and take 223 runs lead.

Rohit started opening in Test matches in 2019 and he has scored 1672 runs in 19 matches as an opener at an impressive average of 57.65.

The right-hander did well while opening in the home conditions but he was able to prove his mettle in the foreign conditions when he scored 368 runs in four Test matches against England in 2021.

Furthermore, Rohit has amassed 1111 runs in 12 Test matches as an opener in home conditions at a splendid average of 69.43.

“There is no doubt about that, I think he is a world-class batsman. He is arguably one of the best batsmen across formats that have played for the country. He recently with his hundred goes on to become the 1st Indian captain to score a hundred in all formats. His record in India is upwards of 75 which is a phenomenal average to have. And the moment he shifted from being a middle-order batsman to an opener in white-ball cricket, things changed dramatically and in Test cricket, the landscape of what he has become as a batsman has changed phenomenally,” Karthik told Cricbuzz.

Rohit has scored 3257 runs in 46 Test matches at an impressive average of 47.2 and he has been doing a fine job at the top of the order.

“You can see, he enjoys batting. He relishes the opportunity to bat fast bowlers first up and then go on to play spinners. He is someone who is very special to India and I sometimes feel, he is not celebrated enough as a Test opener. He has got a lot of credentials in white-ball format. People speak about his accolades in the white-ball format. But as a Test opener, he has been really good in the limited time that he has done it,” Karthik added.

The second Test match will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi from Friday onwards.