 "Rohit Sharma provides fitness update after getting hit on knee, refuses to discuss batting position")
India captain Rohit Sharma has urged experts and fans to not worry about his knee after getting hit on that part of the body during a training session in Melbourne ahead of the fourth Test against Australia. Rohit, who has returned to the middle-order in the ongoing Test series in order to allow KL Rahul to continue batting at the top, also urged followers of the sport to not worry about the Indian batting order.
Rohit had been hit on the knee during a nets session at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday, and was spotted sitting with an ice pack on the affected area. Two days before the ‘Boxing Day Test’ however, the ‘Hitman’ insisted all was well with regards to his fitness.
“My knee is fine,” Rohit told reporters ahead of the fourth Test in Melbourne, where India had emerged victorious in each of their last two tours of Australia.
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Rohit had missed the series opener in Perth to be with his wife Ritika for the birth of their son. Pacer Jasprit Bumrah led the Indians to a thumping 295-run victory in his absence while Rahul was promoted to the top of the order and made the most of the opportunity with a knock of 77 in the second innings, forging a 201-run partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Thanks to his heroics at the Optus Stadium in Perth, Rahul was retained as an opener while Rohit returned to the middle order where he had last batted during the Melbourne Test in the 2018-19 tour of Australia.
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More Shorts“Let’s not worry about who bats where. Something that we need to figure and not something I would be discussing here. We will do what is best for the team,” said Rohit, who is under immense pressure to regain his form after scoring just one half-century in his last 13 Test outings.
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Rohit similarly dismissed concern over Virat Kohli constantly falling prey to the channel outside the off-stump and getting caught-behind as a result. Though he did manage a century in the second innings in the Perth Test, Kohli’s form with the bat has also come under scrunity and the former India captain is under pressure to score big runs consistently.
“Kohli’s off stump… you only say modern day great. Modern-day greats figure out their own path,” said the skipper.
The series is currently tied at 1-1 with two Tests to go. Australia had leveled the series in style with a 10-wicket thrashing of the visitors in the pink-ball Test in Adelaide , and had collected a sizeable 185-run lead in the third Test in Brisbane, only for the match to end in an entertaining draw due to incessant rain and India’s resistance.
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