BAILEY BACKS SHARMA

The stand-in captain of the Australian ODI team, George Bailey, has said that Rohit Sharma has emerged out as a strong contender for the no. 4 position in the Indian test team.

It’s the legendary Sachin Tendulkar who has been batting at no. 4 for India in the test matches since a long time, but, he will retire after the upcoming test series against West Indies. So, the no. 4 position will be vacated and according to Bailey, Rohit can be a good choice for that vital position.

Rohit was the leading run scorer in the recently finished 7-match ODI series between India and Australia. He scored a total of 491 runs in the series with the help of 2 centuries and a half century.

In the last ODI which was played at Bengaluru, Rohit played a marathon innings of 209 runs. That was only the third time in the history of ODI cricket that a batsman scored a double century. Because of that brilliant knock, India managed to reach a mammoth total of 383 which proved to be enough for the Aussies.

Talking to the reporters in the press conference after that Bengaluru game, Bailey said, “Rohit played wonderful cricket throughout the series and today’s inning was special. He is enjoying opening the batting and he is certainly one of the contenders to fill that spot which will be vacated after Sachin’s departure.”

“The way he changed gears after getting to his century was fantastic. When he completed his century, his strike rate was only close to 100, but, he upped the ante after that.”

During that innings, Rohit Sharma also created a new world record of hitting the most no. of sixes in an ODI game. He hit a total of 16 sixes in the match.

Cook Braced for Fierce Ashes Battle

Alastair Cook insists England are fully aware they will need to be on top of their game “to do something special” in Australia this winter.

Cook’s men will head Down Under chasing a fourth successive Ashes series victory, a feat last achieved in 1890 under the leadership of the great W.G. Grace.

“What is in front of us is the opportunity to play well and to do something special and to win four in a row, which hasn’t been done for a very long time, and as a side you want to be involved in that sort of thing,” he told ecb.co.uk. Continue reading “Cook Braced for Fierce Ashes Battle”