‘Whether left-arm or right-arm, they’ll get wickets’ – Rohit Sharma on India’s struggles against left-arm pacers

Rohit Sharma (Photo Source: Twitter)

Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Starc wrecked the Indian top order in a scintillating fast bowling display in the second ODI to draw his side level in the three-match series. While fans and experts were quick to point out India’s vulnerability to left-arm fast bowling, skipper Rohit Sharma did not share the same view after the damaging loss in Visakhapatnam.

India earned a hard-fought victory in the ODI series victory in Mumbai after seeing off the threat of Mitchell Starc. However, there was no respite for the home side in the second ODI as the Aussie star dismissed four of the top five Indian batters to restrict them to a modest total.

While India’s struggles against left-arm fast bowling is not a new phenomenon, Rohit Sharma stated it was more down to the skill of the bowlers rather than being a ‘left-armer or a right-armer’.

“When you have a quality bowler in the opposition, he is bound to take wickets. He is trying his best to get your best players out. Whether it’s a left-armer or a right-armer, they will get wickets. The right-armers have troubled us well, nobody talks about it,” Rohit told the media after the second ODI here.

We don’t look too much into the left-arm or the right-arm: Rohit Sharma

An underwhelming top order showing in the first ODI was followed by an atrocious collapse in the second ODI, which allowed the Aussies to level the three-match series with one match to go. Rohit revealed that the team will prepare better for the series finale, especially against the seam bowlers.

“We don’t look too much into the left-arm or the right-arm — wickets are wickets. If you lose wickets, it is a concern. We will look into all sorts of things: how we are getting out, what we need to do, how we can come up with better plans, better methods against the seamers. You know, in the last six ODIs, if I remember a lot of the top order (batsmen) got big runs. When we really need to look into it, we will definitely look into it,” Rohit added.

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