Will Rohit Sharma play 5th Test: The Indian opening batsman hadn’t taken the field in the fourth innings of the Oval Test.
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It is after a couple of years that India opening batsman Rohit Sharma has won a “Man of the Match” award in Test cricket. In what is the fourth such award of his career, it is his second one for his performance as an opening batsman.
Sharma, who had scored 11 (27) after being put in to bat first by England captain Joe Root on Day 1, followed it up with a match-winning 127 (256) comprising of 14 fours and a six in the second innings to lay an authoritative foundation for the others.
In what was Sharma’s maiden overseas Test century, it was also his eighth overall, second against England and fifth as an opening batsman. The knock unequivocally played a titular role in India beating England by 157 runs to go 2-1 up in the five-match series.
What a comeback! 🇮🇳👏🏻
The boys just kept bouncing back after every setback. What a way to stamp authority on the last day when England were 77/0. Way to go guys!
Let’s make it 3-1. 😀#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/tHjrtE5Bo8
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) September 6, 2021
Sharma, who had stitched a 153-run partnership for the second wicket alongside Cheteshwar Pujara, didn’t field in the fourth innings as both him (left knee) and Pujara (left ankle) had suffered injuries while batting.
Will Rohit Sharma play India vs England 5th Test?
“I wanted to be on the field as much as I could [laughs],” Sharma told Sky Sports while reflecting on the best-case scenario of not fielding after scoring a century in the recently concluded match at The Oval.
Having scored 368 runs in four Test matches at an average of 52.57 with the help of a century and two half-centuries, Sharma is India’s highest run-scorer in this series for now. Being asked about an injury update, Sharma gave a mixed response saying that he has been asked to not look far ahead.
“[knee] Looks good at the moment. The message from the physio is that we got to assess every minute and that I shouldn’t look too far ahead,” Sharma added.
With the fifth Test beginning after a three-day gap from September 10 at Old Trafford, both teams will have to work smartly with respect to managing the workloads of their players.
