Rohit made to work hard: Rathour

Nagpur, February 10

Australia made Rohit Sharma “work hard” for his 120-run knock and it was a special effort since it came on a track that wasn’t easy to bat on, India batting coach Vikram Rathour said after India strengthened their position in the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

After two days’ play, Sharma’s hundred and half-centuries from Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel have given India a first-innings lead of 144.

“It was a special innings by Rohit and it is a great feeling (to see him score runs). He showed good temperament and it was a very important innings as the surface wasn’t easy to bat on,” Rathour said at the end of the second day’s play.

Since he started opening in the Test matches, Sharma has played some great knocks but the three hundreds that stand out include his epic 161 on a treacherous Chennai pitch, a ton at the Oval and today’s knock on a slow turner here.

“That is the quality of his batting,” Rathour said. “He has got runs on seaming tracks in England. But if we talk about this particular innings, he was made to work hard for his runs. Normally, with Rohit when he scores his first few runs, he then pushes the score. But here he had to work hard.”

India scored 95 runs in the final session, courtesy an 81-run stand between Patel (52 batting) and Jadeja (66 batting), but Rathour didn’t want to take anything for granted.

“You can’t say till the last ball is bowled,” he said cautiously.

When asked if Patel’s batting came into consideration when he was picked up ahead of Kuldeep Yadav, Rathour said: “He (Axar) has been exceptional with the ball so that was not even a consideration. Yes, (his) batting is a bonus.”