back icon

News

If the ball is moving around, Rohit will have his struggles: Styris

article_imageNEWS
Last updated on 14 Jun 2021 | 12:01 PM
Follow Us
If the ball is moving around, Rohit will have his struggles: Styris

The former New Zealand all-rounder reckons Rohit does not move his feet well early on which could be a cause for concern

Former New Zealand all-rounder Scott Styris reckons that Rohit Sharma may struggle against the swinging ball against New Zealand in the World Test Championship (WTC) final. Head groundsman Simon Lee had earlier mentioned that the pitch will be fast and bouncy and Styris reckons that it could be a cause for concern for the Indian opening batsman.

"It is pitch dependent... I think I can't stress that enough. I think if the ball is moving around then Rohit will have his struggles," Styris said during Star Sports' show Game Plan.

"Rohit doesn't really moves his feet a lot early in his innings. If that's the case, then the swinging ball could be a problem for him," he added.

Talking about what New Zealand's bowling plan to India could be, Styris said, "There is no secret to New Zealand's fast bowling plan if you like and that is Southee, Boult and either Jamieson or de Grandhomme will be the third seamer and they bowled till about the 22nd to 28th over with a new ball," he said.

"And then Neil Wagner comes into the equation. So, when you talk about Wagner, it's his ability to be aggressive and be a genuine wicket-taking option for somebody like (Virat) Kohli in those middle overs till the new ball comes around," the former blackcaps all-rounder added.

India will have their task cut out as they hardly had any time to train ahead of the final and New Zealand are coming into the match after a rare Test series win in England.

Former India wicket-keeper Parthiv Patel says Kohli might need to give himself some time and take inspiration from his run in the 2018 tour of England. "I think probably he will have to give himself a bit of time and try to think what he did in 2018 -- where he got number of hundreds," Parthiv said.

"So, probably he is better equipped than what he was in 2014, but there will be challenges and there will be challenges of variety of fast bowlers. Reason being -- it is not a one-dimensional fast bowling attack." 

(With inputs from PTI)

Related Article

Loader