Johannesburg: Rohit Sharma has had a forgettable campaign so far against South Africa in the ongoing tour. After failing to impress in the Test series, the right-hander has also failed to make a mark in the ongoing ODI series and former South African skipper Kepler Wessels said that Rohit’s struggle is all because of his footwork.
“He will always struggle to score runs in SA because of his footwork. He plants his front foot across to the off-side and in SA, the pitches always seam and bounce a bit. This is the reason that he averages around 10 there,” said Wessels, as quoted by The Times of India.
But he expressed opposite thoughts for Rohit’s opening partner-Shikhar Dhawan, who struck his 13th ODI ton in his 100th ODI at the Wanderers.
“He looks very impressive in one-day cricket. He’s superb there. In the Tests, he’s still vulnerable to the short ball, but the overall package is very good,” added the former Proteas batsman.
India, despite failing to restrict South Africa in the fourth ODI in Johannesburg, has looked a formidable unit so far. The Virat Kohli led side won the first three matches with convincing margins and Wessels feels that they would be tough to beat in the World Cup next year.
“I wouldn’t say favourites, but they (India) will be very competitive. Barring injuries to key players, it’s looking good for them. They will be difficult to beat,” he said.
He also highlighted the fact that the hosts have found it difficult to counter the Indian spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav as a result of which they have failed to replicate their performance from the Test series.
“I think that they’ve got a totally different team (from the Test series), a totally different arsenal. They have introduced the two legspinners which has totally confused the SA set-up. I think that India’s One-Day team at the moment is very good,” added Wessels.
The 60-year-old also had words of praise for India’s pace bowling unit and said that the wicket-taking pacers are always useful additions to the team.
“Bhuvi (Bhuvneshwar Kumar) swings it nicely, Bumrah hits the pitch hard. He can also bowl some nice yorkers and quick bouncers. So, that has been a big plus as far as Indian cricket is concerned… the fact that they now have fast bowlers who can take wickets abroad,” said the former left-hander.
“Before the Tests, I thought that the Indian batsmen would score runs and the bowlers would struggle to bowl SA out, but it turned out to be the other way around,” added the man, who played ODI cricket for both South Africa and Australia.