Rohit Sharma earmarked as ‘tough to bowl to’ by Australia pacer ahead of Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Premier Australia paceman Josh Hazlewood has massive praise for Indian skipper Rohit Sharma for his ability to score freely in tricky batting conditions.

Rohit has led the team from the front in red-ball cricket since taking over the captaincy charge from Virat Kohli. He flourished in the big role and performed well at the top of the order. He scored 1101 runs as Test captain, which included four centuries. Under his captaincy, India also played in the final of the World Test Championship last year.

The swashbuckling opener’s next big test as captain will be against Australia in a five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy Down Under later this year.

Hazlewood, who has been involved in several on-field battles with Rohit in the past, admitted that he found it tough to bowl against the Indian captain, whom he thinks has all the time in the world.

“I remember one time India came out, he batted at 5 or 6 and then last time he opened. He’s faced the new ball a lot. I feel like he plays the quicks unbelievably well. The bounce doesn’t seem to worry him, the movement doesn’t. He’s got all the time in the world. So, I find him quite tough to bowl to,” Hazlewood said on Star Sports.

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant three really big ones to pose threat for Australia

In the recently released ICC Test batting charts, Rohit retained his spot in the top ten batters but moved five places down with his single-digit scores in the first Test of the two-match Bangladesh series.

Ace Australian spinner Nathan Lyon has also named Rohit in the list of players who will pose a big threat to Australia in the upcoming BGT 2024/25.

“Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Rishabh Pant are probably going to be the three really big ones. But then you’ve still got Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Jadeja, and who else will come out—another five, I’m not sure. It’s a pretty amazing line-up they’ve got, so it’s going to be a massive challenge. As I said, if we, as a bowling group, are good enough for long periods, hopefully, we can challenge their defence,” he added.

Meanwhile, Australia have not won a Test series against India in the past decade, which includes two series losses Down under. Since winning the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar 2-0, Australia have lost the next four series against India — two to Virat Kohli’s side (2016-17, 2018-19), Ajinkya Rahane (2021) and Rohit Sharma (2023).