You might see a completely different innings from Rohit Sharma at Lord's: Sitanshu Kotak

Sitanshu Kotak, India's batting coach, has thrown his weight behind Rohit Sharma ahead of the series decider against England at Lord's. Rohit has failed to make an impact in the two matches thus far and will be looking to put his best with the bat on display once again, as Kotak believes the former India captain can play a memorable knock at the top in the third and final ODI of the series.

There have been talks surrounding his potential retirement from international cricket, which were later nullified by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, but it is no surprise that there will be a lot of expectations from Rohit in the upcoming encounter. Kotak believes that despite the expectations of fans and the dressing room, a player like Rohit is least likely to feel the heat. 

“I don't think a big player like Rohit Sharma can have any sort of pressure. He's too good a player to feel that. Yes, he didn't get runs in the opening two matches, but I don't think that makes any difference. But today, it also looked like he'd probably get a good inning out. But that's okay,” Kotak said at the press conference.

“See, honestly, I have played a lot of cricket, and I have seen a lot of cricket. On a given day, there are a lot of batters I have seen; they don't get that momentum that they are looking for, and that can happen. You might see a completely different innings from Rohit Sharma at Lord's,” he added.

While the majority have maintained a stance that Rohit struggled big time in the first couple of games, Kotak feels that it happened only because he did not get balls in his slot. He further said that it can happen to best of the batters in the world, and Rohit is just a recent example of what happened, further affirming confidence in the experienced opener to play a big innings at the home of cricket.

“So, I wouldn't use the word 'struggling', but maybe the shots he normally plays are on the up and all, which is because of the double bounce; probably he felt it was not comfortable, and Shubman Gill got a quick start, then Virat Kohli got a quick start, but he didn't probably get balls in his slot, or he didn't get going. That's what I felt.

"So, I wouldn't say, because you could definitely see the completely different innings from a player like Rohit, and I think that I have seen that happening to a lot of batters. So, it's not just Rohit, who, I wouldn't use the word, he was struggling,” the Men in Blue batting coach concluded.

The third and final ODI of the series between India and England will be played at the Lord's Cricket Ground in London on Sunday, July 19.