Former Indian batter Ajay Jadeja reckons skipper Rohit Sharma perished after pressure was applied by the New Zealand pace duo of Tim Southee and Matt Henry in the first 30 minutes of the opening Test match at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru on Thursday.
Indian skipper surprisingly decided to bat first but the openers – Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal – were found wanting in difficult conditions. Matt Henry had a close LBW shout turned down against Rohit Sharma and the pressure was palpable on the Indian opening duo with New Zealand pacers going past the bat on multiple occasions.
Rohit decided to get himself out of jail with a big shot against Southee but could not make any connection with the ball and was clean bowled after scoring only two runs.
“Rohit tried to adopt a new approach based on the conditions. If you see the shot, it wasn’t that he had an attacking mindset. The attacking move to go on the front foot was to try and make the bowler do something else,” Ajay Jadeja said on Colors Cineplex.
“If you see only one ball, it seems like Rohit Sharma got out while attacking. However, I feel the reason for that attack was not the reaction to the ball, it was the effect of what had happened in the previous six overs, which he had played out,” the former India opener added.
Jadeja said Rohit was worried about getting dismissed against Southee if he didn’t try to break the shackles.
“It wasn’t for that ball because he started walking well before the ball was released. According to me, the mindset looks attacking but this was done because it was in your mind that if you allow him to bowl at a spot, he will dismiss you some time or the other,” he said.
“So you had to attack him. So it’s more about the mindset. Obviously, when you get out, a mistake will be seen somewhere or the other, either you will see a gap or you will be far from the ball,” Jadeja observed.
New Zealand currently leads by 299 runs with three wickets in hand.
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