'Rohit Sharma is over-thinking and over-cautious, that's not good', RP Singh on India skipper's approach

Rohit Sharma has endured an inconsistent run of form with the bat of late, especially in the Test format where he has struggled to execute shots to perfection. In the ongoing Test series against England, Rohit has endured scores of 24, 39, 14 and 13 across the two Tests against England, and more importantly, Rohit’s attacking intent was nowhere to be seen in these Tests.

Former India cricketer RP Singh feels the India skipper has had an “over-thinking” and “over-cautious” approach when it comes to his batting. And that, RP Singh says, is not good for Rohit as a batter or even a person.

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“Rohit Sharma is overthinking. He’s thinking about playing a big knock, build at least two-three partnerships in the absence of other main players to take the innings forward. He’s being over-cautious in trying to do that. He’s not that kind of a player. His style is different. He is a free-flowing batter and that is missing. He can play his shots. An over-cautious Rohit is not good both as a batter and as a person,” told RP Singh on Cricbuzz.

In the first Test in Hyderabad, when Rohit was dismissed for 24, he charged down the track against Jack Leach but didn’t get the desired elevation before being caught at mid-on. Rohit then switched his approach in the second innings, unleashing the reverse sweeps but eventually fell to Tom Hartley’s LBW trap.

Rohit batted for 41 deliveries in the first innings of the second Test but failed to play an attacking shot before being caused at slip off Shoaib Bashir’s ball. In the second innings, Rohit fell to an excellent delivery from James Anderson, who cleaned him up by dismantling the off stump.

Only time will tell if Rohit would come into the third Test in Rajkot with a refreshed approach and mindset. The Test series is level 1-1, and the third Test in Rajkot begins from Thursday (15 February).