"Not Even 5% Of Rohit Sharma": India Coach Slammed For Comments On Former Captain
India's assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate felt Rohit Sharma's lack of runs was down to not getting enough match practice.
After blistering performances against Australia and South Africa, Rohit Sharma hasn't quite managed to continue the same form in the ODI series against New Zealand. In the 2 ODIs so far, the Hitman has managed to hit 26 and 24 runs respectively. As the second ODI ended in a defeat for the Indian team, assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate said that Rohit was probably 'short on cricket' coming into the series, hence the below-par performances. But former India batter Manoj Tiwary wasn't happy with Ten Doeschate's choice of words. Ten Doeschate, who played for the Netherlands in his international career, was asked if Rohit has made any changes in his style of play, which is probably affecting his batting against the Kiwis. But the Dutchman denied, saying the lack of big runs is probably down to match practice.
"He's definitely not the sort of guy to play for himself. It's just a combination of the wickets being slightly difficult and maybe just being a little bit short on cricket leading into the series," Ten Doeschate had said in the press conference after the 2nd ODI.
Tiwary, however, made a rather harsh assessment of Ten Doeschate's words, saying he hasn't done even 5 percent of what Rohit has in his career.
"With a lot of respect, I would like to tell Ryan Ten Doeschate that he was with me for four years at KKR. No doubt he is a very good person, but the kind of comment he has made, I think, he should have thought about it. He has also played international cricket for the Netherlands. If you look at his performance in international cricket, I am saying this with all due respect, it is not even 5% of what Rohit has achieved in his career, not just as a batter but also as a captain," Tiwary told PTI in an interview.
Earlier, Tiwary had also questioned the BCCI selection committee's decision to strip Rohit of captaincy responsibility in ODIs.
"He has given the nation so much happiness by winning the Champions Trophy also and after that, talking like this, that too when he is in the team, not like he is sitting at home and commenting, he is a part of the management, and telling like this about your player is demoralising. I don't know why he said that. He has to reflect on this. I feel he must not make such comments," Tiwary added.
India Cricket Team
New Zealand Cricket Team
Ryan ten Doeschate
Rohit Sharma
Manoj Tiwary