Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan feels India opener Rohit Sharma can have a similar impact like legendary opener Virender Sehwag in Tests.
Irfan Pathan thinks Rohit Sharma’s success as an ODI opener can help him achieve greater heights in Tests as well. Pathan engaged in a conversation with Gautam Gambhir in the Star Sports’ show Cricket Connected, discussing Rohit Sharma’s future in Test cricket.
“We also got to see the double-century in Test cricket that we had already seen in ODIs when he came as an opener. The more matches he will play in the coming years, subject to his keeping fit, he can have a similar impact like Virender Sehwag,” Irfan Pathan said on the Cricket Connected Show on Star Sports.
Considered one of the best white-ball openers of this era, Rohit Sharma finally found success in his maiden Test series as an opener against South Africa in 2019.
Rohit Sharma’s inability to make full use of the “talent” he possesses in Tests had always remained an enigma but he changed it last year. Rohit scored 529 runs which had 2 hundred and a double hundred in his 1st Test series as an opener.
“Last two years we have seen a different kind of Rohit Sharma, the guy who wants to score a hundred after hundred. That will help him to do really well in Test cricket for the next few years,” Pathan added.
“We have seen that recently when he started playing as an opener in Test cricket. The whole career of Rohit Sharma in Test cricket looks different now. Because when he was a middle-order batsman in Test cricket, he was not performing to the extent we expect out of him,” Pathan said.
Irfan Pathan also said Rohit Sharma would undoubtedly remain one of the greats in white-ball cricket, but he might not get that many Test caps.
“There will be always a question on longevity because Sehwag has played 100 Test matches. Rohit Sharma is a champion in ODI cricket, he will be in my top 3 openers of ODI history. If we talk of Test matches, he will be a little behind because he may not be able to play that many matches,” Pathan signed off.
