Trust your technique - Dinesh Karthik's advice for Rohit Sharma

India had a rare slide against New Zealand as they went down 0-3 in what was a rare incident in their long-standing Test cricket antiquity. There was a major fiasco in terms of India’s batting as they could hardly get the better of the Kiwi spinners. In the first Test it was the seamers who did the damage to the hosts, while the following two witnessed India getting steamrolled by the Kiwi tweakers.

India’s captain, Rohit Sharma, had an ominous outing as he could barely scratch the surface except for the second innings of the first Test against the Blackcaps. He took full accountability of his batting failure at the end of the series and vowed to work upon it. RCB batting coach and mentor, Dinesh Karthik, pointed out that Rohit’s batting style is never the problem. He opined that he wants the Indian skipper to believe more in his tactics, which should get the job done.

Talking to Cricbuzz, Rohit Sharma said, “So, the one thing that Rohit Sharma is not doing, which he did very well when he took up his role as an opener, is trust his technique. Yes, attack is an option. But that will only come better if you trust your technique. Because you are worried you might get out defending or playing a soft shot, you are trying to attack. Then, that is fraught with risk. Because if it doesn't come off, it looks silly.”

He further added, “In Test cricket, what I feel is that intent is getting him into a safe space where he feels when in trouble, use that. It's not a method where he's using it like he's using it in white ball cricket, one that the Indian team needed. Here, a lot of times, when he is beaten a couple of times, when he is put under a little bit of pressure, an immediate instinct is to play an attacking shot fraught with risk. Now, with that comes the ability to get out as well.”

DK concluded by talking about Rohit’s go-to method which is an aggressive brand of cricket, stating, “I think his safe space right now, in Rohit Sharma's case, is to attack. Then in that, he feels he is a lot more comfortable doing it because he's seen that success. But when it doesn't go right, it always will give the image that it has given so far."