"Don't think overs, think balls" - When a former India coach gave an interesting suggestion to struggling Rohit Sharma

Team India's Test and ODI captain Rohit Sharma is enduring a horror run in red-ball cricket at present. He managed only 31 runs in five innings during the recently concluded Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Given his woeful form, it wasn't surprising that he ended up opting out of the final Test of the series in Sydney. Overall, the 37-year-old played 14 Tests in 2024, scoring 619 runs at a poor average of 24.76.

While the right-hander has tasted much better success with the willow in the limited-overs formats, he has failed to live up to expectations in the Indian Premier League (IPL). In recent seasons, his numbers in the T20 league have been rather poor.

In 2023, after Rohit made another disappointing start to his IPL season, former India head coach Ravi Shastri suggested that the Hitman must look to play at least 50 balls. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo's T20 Time: Out, Shastri said:

"He's got to revisit his role. Think of batting time, think of using that experience because that's not there in the middle order like before. [Rohit has to] relook at how approaches his batting over a period of time. In the sense that if he wants to he can go a little hard in the first 3-4 overs, but he's also got to think of batting and staying there till the 14th or 15th [over] to get that 70. He's got to think 70, and at a good strike rate.

"A simple way of doing it is [to] think: "I'm going to bat 50 balls, come what may." Don't think overs, think balls - "I want to play 50 balls. If I play 50, I think my team is in a good position." So he's going to challenge himself and look to play those 50 balls," the 62-year-old former all-rounder had further commented.

Rohit has the experience of 448 T20 matches in which he has scored 11,830 runs at an average of 30.88 and a strike rate of 134.76, with eight hundreds and 78 fifties. He led the Men in Blue to victory in the 2024 T20 World Cup.

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Rohit Sharma's batting stats in the IPL

Rohit has featured in 257 IPL matches, scoring 6,628 runs at an average of 29.72 and a strike rate of 131.14, with the aid of two centuries and 43 half-centuries. The former Mumbai Indians (MI) captain is third on the list of all-time leading run-getters in the T20 league.

The aggressive batter's most fruitful season with the willow in the IPL came in 2013 when he scored 538 runs at an average of 38.42 and a strike rate of 131.54. He hit 417 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 150 in the IPL 2024 season.