IND vs SL 2022 | Rohit Sharma needs to contribute personally as well and keep adding value to team, says Saba Karim

India won the first Test against Sri Lanka and are leading by 1-0 in the two-match series. India completely dominated the game in Mohali winning it by an innings and 222 runs. It was also the 100th Test for Virat Kohli. However, two quality batsmen in the Indian team, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma haven’t been amongst the runs since last few matches. Kohli scored his last ton in November 2019 and is going through a century drought. 

Rohit has scored just one half-century in his last 10 international innings. He scored 44, 1 and 5 in the recent T20I series against Sri Lanka and was also dismissed for 29 runs in the first Test. Former Indian cricketer Saba Karim believes that Rohit should contribute personally as well and add some value to the team. 

“It will be very important for Rohit Sharma to perform with the bat. He has led very well but you become a good or a great captain with the support of the team. He needs to contribute personally as well and keep adding value to the team. So yes, the next Test will be a challenge for him," Karim said on the Khelneeti podcast.

Mayank Agarwal scored 33 runs in the first Test. He has a good record on home soil while playing red-ball cricket. He has amassed 872 runs from eight matches with an average of 79.27. Axar Patel has also returned to the squad and it will be interesting to see whether he will get a spot in the playing XI. Saba Karim belives that the team will persist with same opening combination for second Test in Bangalore. 

“Expect India to go in with the same opening combination. Why would you want to change things after just one Test match? Mayank has scored plenty of runs in Indian conditions. He wasn’t struggling in the previous Test. But yes, he will need to convert his starts into big scores.” he stated.

The second Test of the series will be a pink-ball Test and will start from March 12.