Former Australian star batter Shane Watson was addressing the media in Sydney as part of the Champions Trophy tour. The former World Cup winner was asked to comment on the bad run of form that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have been facing in recent times. Both of India’s star batters failed to score well during the ongoing Border Gavaskar Trophy.
Rohit Sharma in particular managed to score just 31 runs in the five innings he has batted so far. This raised massive speculations about his future in Test cricket as well as his captaincy. Virat Kohli on the other hand struggled for runs after his century in Perth in the first Test versus Australia.
Shane Watson said, “I don't think it will really play a part at all with Rohit Sharma and Virat's impact in one-day cricket. It's going to be different conditions where they're playing in Dubai. One-day cricket does really free them both as well. We'll see that again in the Champions Trophy. Rohit, like we saw in the one-day World Cup 2023 when he was at his very best, he was taking on the game.”
Shane Watson backs struggling veteran duo to come good
The former Australian batter also said about Rohit Sharma, “It's more difficult to be able to do that in Test cricket. He hasn't been able to find that balance here in Australia. But when he goes out for the batting in one-days, he lets loose. That's when we see the very best of Rohit Sharma”.
“So I'd be very surprised if he doesn't perform really well in the Champions Trophy, knowing that he probably doesn't have a lot of time left, whatever that is, but a lot of time left in international cricket. So I'm sure he'll let the handbrake off” added Shane Watson.
While speaking about Virat Kohli, the 43-year-old said “Kohli is an absolute master of one-day cricket. Yes, he's a master of all formats, but especially ODIs. You see his extraordinary numbers over a long period of time, averaging around 57 and a strike rate of 93 over a long period of time. It's crazy to think the control that he has over his innings.”