'Had his problems...': Ex-India opener on Rohit's big concern

NEW DELHI:

Rohit Sharma

has experienced a rollercoaster ride with the bat for Mumbai Indians in

IPL 2024

. Despite a promising start and a century against Chennai Super Kings last month, his performance has significantly declined in the following matches.
In his last three innings, Rohit has struggled to reach double figures, raising concerns about the Indian captain's form as the

T20 World Cup

approaches.

Wasim Jaffer

, a former India opener, provided an in-depth analysis of Rohit's chink in armoury as a batter.

"He had his problems against left-arm seamers. The way he plants his front leg, you could always feel that anything that's coming in will trouble him. Even right-handed bowlers have found a way to get him out. But left-armers create an angle which makes it more difficult. In the recent past, he has gone after them; he tries to slog them and sometimes walks towards the bowler to negate the swing," Jaffer told ESPNCricinfo.

The potential resurgence of Rohit's struggles against

left-arm pacers

is worrisome, especially with the T20 World Cup on the horizon. India are set to face Pakistan in the group stage, and the arch-rivals boast one of the top left-arm pacers in

Shaheen Afridi

. Moreover, several other skilled left-armers participating in the tournament will be closely monitoring Rohit's batting form in the IPL.

Jaffer suggested that Rohit should avoid taking an aggressive approach from the very first ball and instead focus on timing the deliveries based on their merit in the initial couple of overs.
"I think he's got decent numbers against

Mitchell Starc

. And Starc's form is a concern, Rohit knows that. Rohit also hasn't scored the runs in his last four matches, so he will be keen to get into the World Cup with a bit of form.
"I feel Rohit needs to take a little bit more time; he's trying to muscle the ball too early in his innings. He can take a couple of overs to get himself in and look to time the ball rather than trying to hit it too hard. It's going to be an interesting match-up, as any left-handers for Rohit Sharma is a little bit of worry," said Jaffer.