Pressure of keeping his place is playing on his mind

Former India pacer Dodda Ganesh feels that fighting for a spot in the playing XI has led to Rohit Sharma not playing with his natural approach in ODIs anymore. The opening batter recorded another poor outing in the ongoing series against England, scoring 26 runs off 47 deliveries in the second match at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff, on Thursday, July 16.

Rohit Sharma opened the series in Birmingham with a disappointing 11, and was dismissed by Sam Curran during the run chase. The Hitman was under pressure after a poor home ODI series against New Zealand at the start of the year, followed by two ordinary outings against Afghanistan in June.

However, on that occasion, he was able to get some breathing room after a timely fifty in the series finale in Chennai. His ODI average for the year has now dropped down to 30.12, his lowest since 2012, considering the years where he has played atleast five ODIs. Furthermore, with a rampant Yashasvi Jaiswal waiting on the sidelines with an average of 71.25 across his first six outings, Rohit Sharma is currently hovering on the ropes.

Dodda Ganesh termed Rohit Sharma’s batting approach in the second ODI as ‘timid’ and ‘baffling’.

“Rohit Sharma’s timid batting approach is baffling to say the least. It’s been ages since I’ve seen Rohit in such mindset in the ODIs. Probably the pressure of keeping his place is playing on his mind,” he posted on X.

Rohit Sharma scored only 10 runs off the 18 deliveries he faced in the first powerplay, while Shubman Gill dominated the bowlers at the other end with a fluent 30-ball 31. The Hitman has scored only one fifty in eight ODIs this year, while his strike rate has also taken a dip in the majority of those matches.

Team India in a precarious position after Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli’s dismissals in ENG vs IND 2026 2nd ODI

Rohit Sharma was dismissed after a soft dismissal off his franchise teammate Will Jacks’ bowling in the 18th over. The off-spinner struck in his very first over to reduce Team India to 104-2, breaking the crucial partnership with Virat Kohli.

The No.3 batter went on to record a solid fifty, recovering well from his poor outing in the series opener. Jofra Archer, brought back into the attack in the 32nd over, dismissed him for 35 to leave the visitors at 179-4.