Logo

Logo

Pakistan should back players in the manner India trusted Rohit Sharma: Imam-ul-Haq

It was not until 2013 that Rohit looked like he belonged to the international stage despite making his international debut in 2007.

Pakistan should back players in the manner India trusted Rohit Sharma: Imam-ul-Haq

India's Rohit Sharma celebrates his century (100 runs) during the second one day international (ODI) cricket match between India and the West Indies in Visakhapatnam on December 18, 2019. (Photo by STR / AFP)

Star Indian batsman Rohit Sharma is now regarded as one of the finest batsmen around in limited-overs cricket. The right-handed batsman is the only cricketer in the world to score three double hundreds in the ODIs.

He has been a match-winner in T20 cricket as well and even came good as an opener in Test match cricket in the limited chances that he has got till now. However, there was a time when he was struggling to get runs under his belt.

Rohit made his international debut way back in 2007 as a 20-year-old. In the T20 World Cup, the Mumbaikar showed glimpse of his talent. However, it was not until 2013 that Rohit looked like he belonged to the international stage.

Advertisement

In the Champions Trophy 2013, the then Indian skipper MS Dhoni promoted Rohit to the opening slot alongside Shikhar Dhawan and it was that decision that proved to be a game-changer in his career.

Giving his example, Pakistan cricketer Imam-ul-Haq has now said that Pakistan Cricket Board should now back cricketers as India stuck with Rohit.

During an Instagram Live,  Imam said, “Our team has a fear of failure, although that is my personal assessment, which is why players don’t perform consistently. They are worried about getting dropped from the side after two or three poor performances.” as quoted by Cricket Pakistan.

“Communication gap between the board and players also results in inconsistency. This is not the case with other teams around the world. If you look at the example of Rohit Sharma, who did not do well initially in his career but India trusted him and he came good later,” he added.

Meanwhile, the entire world has been brought to a complete halt owing to the coronavirus crisis in the country and the sporting arena is no different. Almost all sporting events across the world have been postponed in view of the global health emergency.

Advertisement