WATCH: Shoaib Akhtar backs Rohit Sharma to score triple century vs South Africa

Shoaib Akhtar backs Rohit Sharma: The former Pakistani fast bowler was wax lyrical about the Indian opening batsman.

During the ongoing first Test between India and South Africa in Visakhapatnam, India opening batsman Rohit Sharma scored his fourth Test century to justify his promotion at the top of the order in Test matches.

Brought into the playing XI as a replacement for the out-of-form Lokesh Rahul, sending Sharma as an opening batsman was another way to accommodate him in the Playing XI.

Having scored his fourth Test century yesterday itself, Sharma went on to post a formidable 176 (244) with the help of 23 fours and six sixes. Yet to score a single-digit score in home Tests since New Zealand’s tour of India in 2016, Sharma has continue his stellar spree at home.

So @ImRo45 opens and scores a huge 💯!!!! No surprises … #INDvSA

— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) October 3, 2019

Shoaib Akhtar backs Rohit Sharma to score triple century vs South Africa

Among the former and current cricketers who are praising Sharma for his superb innings is former Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar. Speaking in a video uploaded on his official YouTube channel, Akhtar is heard throwing accolades at the 32-year old Indian cricketer.

Akhtar starts with narrating an old conversation with Sharma when both of them were in Bangladesh. Akhtar reveals how he had predicted Sharma to be the best Indian batsman back in the day.

While Akhtar didn’t find anything wrong with Sharma’s technique and game play, he spoke against him trying to become a Test cricketer in Test matches. The 44-year old laid emphasis on Sharma using the same batting approach across formats.

While Akhtar admitted that Sharma took time to realize the same, he expressed relief after the latter scored a century in his first innings as a Test opener. Among Akhtar’s predictions were Sharma constantly belting the opposition bowlers, scoring a triple century against South Africa in the ongoing series and scoring 700-1,000 runs in the next five-match series that India plays.

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About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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