Indian all-rounder Shardul Thakur recently opened up about his bond with veteran opener Rohit Sharma. He revealed that the two studied in the same school and share a great camaraderie.
Thakur also recounted a couple of incidents to suggest that he was often a ‘punching bag’ for Sharma during the latter’s captaincy stint. He also joked that he could reveal many secrets but chose not to.
The 34-year-old admitted that he would often get an earful from Sharma on the field. Thakur also shared an incident in which he tried to tell the former Indian skipper that there were six fielders on the off side, but got a scolding instead. He revealed that he teased Sharma after the umpire gave it a no-ball.
Thakur said during a discussion on Sony Sports Network:
“Don’t ask me. I can reveal many secrets here, but I don’t want to. Main to punching bag tha uska (I was his punching bag). We have studied in the same school, and I’ve been his junior. He has also seen me in the Mumbai team. But in his captaincy, if Virat Kohli misfields, which is very rare, or Ravindra Jadeja misfields, and if I just fumble after that, Rohit’s dialogue will come for sure I cannot say what dialogue; you can go to YouTube and find it.
“We were playing the Asia Cup. He placed six fielders on the leg side in an ODI. I came running from short third. He said, ‘You go and stand at your position.’ I said listen to me, but he said, ‘You go first.’ I got a scolding, but when the umpire called no-ball, I said, ‘I had come to say this only.’
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma‘s form has come under scrutiny after consecutive failures in the ongoing three-match series against England. The veteran opener has registered scores of 11 and 26 so far on the tour.
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Indian batting coach Sitanshu Kotak feels a player of Rohit Sharma’s stature cannot be under pressure after two disappointing outings. He seemed optimistic about the seasoned campaigner returning to form in the final fixture.
Kotak said during the post-match press conference of the second ODI (via India Today):
“See, 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.
“See, honestly, I have played a lot of cricket, and I have seen a lot of cricket. On a 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.”
England beat India by four wickets on Thursday to level the three-match series 1-1. The deciding encounter will take place at Lord’s in London on Sunday.
Edited by Aditya Suketu Desai