Geoffrey Boycott discussed India’s prospects of defeating England in the series after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retired. According to the former English opener, India could suffer if the two retire. He said that since Kohli was the team’s top hitter in all formats, he might be the largest loss.
The former England opener believed that rising openers needed to be willing to take on the challenge. Although he acknowledged that Rohit is an excellent batter and a stunning strokemaker, the former English batsman believed that Kohli will be missed more than the current Indian ODI captain. He claimed that during the past three years, Rohit has been quite erratic.
“It is less likely that India will defeat England now that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have retired. In all three formats, Kohli has been their finest batsman and talisman, thus his loss is the biggest. India plays a lot of international cricket, but not enough rest, so it wears you out mentally,” Boycott said in his Daily Telegraph column.
“It becomes exhausting if you are not mentally prepared for the endeavour, regardless of your skill level or experience. Rohit was an exceptional batsman. At his peak, he was a stunning stroke player, but his good rather than outstanding Test record means he won’t be missed as much as Kohli. Boycott continued, “His hitting was a little uneven in the last couple of years, which was not surprising in his late 30s.
Unlike Kohli, Rohit was never an athletic natural: Geoffrey Boycott
In contrast to Virat, Rohit was not a natural athlete, according to Geoffrey Boycott, who also acknowledged the challenge of starting the innings in England against the moving ball. The former English opener, who frequently played all three forms, said that Rohit’s demise became inevitable in the game’s longest version and that the hitters in the UK face a formidable task in tackling the shifting ball.
“Unlike Kohli, Rohit was never a natural athlete, and he is aware that the new ball moves around more in England, making it difficult to start an innings. To have any hope of success, you truly need to be up to the challenge. “I simply believe that he was worn down over time by the strain of leading all three formats as captain and opening the innings,” Boycott wrote on Wednesday.
In England, India will play a Test series without Virat for the first time since 2011. Rohit, who smacked a tonne at the Oval and did well in the Lord’s Test, was India’s greatest batsman on their most recent trip of England in 2021. The seasoned pair will be missed by India in the forthcoming series, which will be their first under the transitioning period.
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