“If you don’t score, it’s like, ‘oh, you can’t score even here?’” - Deep Dasgupta on why West Indies series is a no-win situation for Rohit, Kohli

Former India batter Deep Dasgupta has opined that the ongoing series in West Indies is a no-win situation for star players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. He explained that whether they score runs or not, critics and fans are likely to view their performances in a negative sense.

Rohit notched up his 10th Test ton on Day 2 of the first Test against West Indies in Dominica on Thursday. He scored 103 off 221 balls and featured in a 229-run opening stand with debutant Yashasvi Jaiswal (143* off 350) as India went to stumps on Day 2 at 312/2.

The Indian captain’s performance was a much-needed one after his failure in the World Championship (WTC) 2023 final against Australia as well as his inconsistent overall form in recent times.

During a discussion on ESPNcricinfo, Dasgupta praised Rohit for his knock, while also pointing out why the series against West Indies is a tough one for him and Kohli.

“For someone like Rohit or Virat, these series’ are really tough ones because, if you score runs, more often than not people would say it was a sub-par team, conditions were favorable. And, if God forbid, you don’t score runs, then it’s like, ‘oh, you can’t score even here? Where would you score?’ It’s an argument very difficult to win for people like Rohit and Virat. Keeping that in mind, it was a phenomenal effort,” he explained.

Rohit struck 10 fours and two sixes in his impressive knock before being dismissed by West Indian debutant Alick Athanaze.

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“He’s got a definite game plan” - Dasgupta on Rohit’s success as Test opener

Sharing his views on Rohit’s impressive record as an opener in Test cricket, Dasgupta opined that he plays with a certain game plan in the format and the same has worked for him.

The former India stumper elaborated:

“To be fair, he hasn’t played too many Tests away from home, especially in his new avatar as a Test opener. If you look at his record as an opener, it’s phenomenal. It’s just the mental discipline. If you look at his game plan, it’s not rocket science. He doesn’t drive that much in Test cricket unless it’s extremely full. He’s got a definite game plan and that’s been productive for him. Even in tough conditions like England and Australia, that has paid off.”

In nine Tests as an opener away from home (including neutral venues), Rohit has 722 runs at an average of 45.12, with two hundreds.