Sanjay Manjrekar has put Rohit Sharma’s poor form in Test cricket down to deficiencies in his defensive technique.
The India skipper averages 26.39 in 2024, his lowest in the format since 2018. He has made only 607 runs in 24 innings, beginning the year with two hundreds and a fifty at home against England before tailing off.
Since then, he has managed just 152 runs in seven matches, averaging 11.69. Barring his 63-ball 52 against New Zealand at Bengaluru, Rohit has been unable to cross 25 even once, registering nine scores below 10.
Rohit has also been unable to stay put at the crease - In his last 13 innings, he has faced fewer than 30 balls in 12 innings, a point discussed by Manjrekar on ESPNcricinfo.
“[He is] short of confidence and self-doubts," he said. "Bit of a rude shock when he played in that home series against New Zealand and his defence was getting breached on those home pitches.”
Manjrekar highlighted Rohit’s Test tour of England in 2021 when the Indian opener faced 886 balls in eight innings, making 368 runs at an average of 52.57, as an example of him at his best.
“In 2021, he had that terrific series against England, scoring at a strike rate of 42, which is a bit [Cheteshwar] Pujara-like. The entire series, he batted for around 21 hours. The time came when he had to bring that back on again, he just can’t find the defensive game. So, I guess that is where the problem lies - just gone to pieces basically, his defence. The grit, the patience, has just gone away.”
Manjrekar also cautioned against playing an attacking game to hide his frailties. “In Australia and the kind of bowlers they have, it is not easy to take those guys on because his shots are really high-risk shots. He tried that in the home series against New Zealand, just to put the bowlers off, but he got caught out playing the attacking shot.
“When he got the T20 hundred against Afghanistan [earlier this year], I saw, for the first time in his entire career as a white-ball batter, when he was playing the big shots, he was losing shape. You never see Rohit Sharma lose his shape and balance, and that was starting to happen then, and I also believe that has contributed to his defence and his attacking game as well - that sturdiness he has while batting.”
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