India skipper Rohit Sharma faced intense scrutiny over his form in the past six months, but quashed all of it in swashbuckling fashion by hitting 119 off 90 balls, his 32nd ODI century, in a four-wicket series-clinching win over England at Cuttack. Jatin Paranjape, the former India player and selector who is currently a member of the BCCI’s Cricket Advisory Committee, said he was thrilled with Rohit being back at his effortless and skillful best at the Barabati Stadium on Sunday to break a long drought of runs and prove his critics wrong ahead of an important Champions Trophy campaign.
“One could see that Rohit was very, very determined to make the good start that he got count not only for himself, but more importantly for the team to ensure that they clinched the series 2 – nil.
“In addition to his usual language elegance, one could see a steely determination in Rohit’s eyes as he looked to prove his critics wrong ahead of a very, very important Champions Trophy campaign,” said Paranjape to IANS on Monday.
In Cuttack, India also gave wrist spinner Varun Chakaravarthy an ODI debut, which came on the back of him taking 14 wickets in the 4-1 T20I series win over England and picking 18 scalps for Tamil Nadu in their Vijay Hazare Trophy campaign.
With Rohit previously hinting that Varun was in contention for a last-minute spot in the Champions Trophy squad, the wrist-spinner did no harm to his chances by picking a tidy 1-54 in his ten overs.
Paranjape, also a KheloMore co-founder, stressed Chakaravarthy’s strengths — his precision and the pressure he puts on batters — as his keys to success. He also suggested that it would come as a surprise for him if Chakaravarthy doesn’t find a place in India’s final squad for the Champions Trophy, whose deadline is on February 12.
“Varun Chakraborty has two biggest strengths: one is his accuracy. All of his deliveries are grouped in a tight cluster. The second strength that he has is that he gives the batsman very, very little time or no time to step out and play aggressive shots. Add to this, he has two or three variations which international batsmen are still getting used to.
“So this is like a little bit of a honeymoon period for him in the international 50-over cricket arena. But I think that he also has the smarts to add to his repertoire and to keep the batsman guessing as his career progresses. I think he is a real find for India and I would be surprised if he does not make it to the Champions Trophy squad,” he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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