Rohit Sharma’s biggest challenge would be to come back into form: Irfan Pathan

India captain Rohit Sharma in a file photo. BCCI

Irfan Pathan is confident that India captain Rohit Sharma, who is making a return from an injury, will soon find his form as the Men in Blue get ready to take on Sri Lanka from Tuesday in a three-match ODI series. The India skipper has not exactly struggled for runs but has also not been in his best form. In the 2022 T20 World Cup, Rohit consistently failed to give India strong starts.

He is now set to return to action in the ODI series against Sri Lanka after suffering a thumb injury last month against Bangladesh.

Pathan feels finding form will be a big challenge for Rohit but the batter is well capable of getting back to his best.

“Coming back from injury is never easy, and the biggest challenge would be for Rohit Sharma to come back into form. Which is important for a leader. Look, Rohit Sharma as a white ball cricketer for India has played tremendously well over the years and he has to continue this form and make his legacy even better. Fitness will be a challenge along with his return to form, but I have full confidence that he will be able to overcome these challenges fully,” Pathan said on Star Sports show ‘Follow the Blues’.

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Pathan further spoke on who the openers should be for Team India in ODI’s, he said “I really think right now you should keep at least three openers in place, and for me Rohit and Ishan comes first and then obviously Shubman Gill. Shubman Gill is definitely a class act, the two T20 matches did not go well but he has the ability in him and he has performed well at one day cricket. So, it’s important to have him at number three, but I will start with Rohit and Ishan Kishan because Ishan Kishan has played some good cricket recently scoring a lot of runs.”

The Sri Lanka ODI series also provides an opportunity for Team India to finetune their squad ahead of the World Cup in October this year. Pathan spoke on what India’s focus should be in the ODI series against Sri Lanka.

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“It is important to win the series, whatever series we play. The bilateral series or if you play the home or away series, it is important to win your confidence as well. But the aim would be the 2023 World Cup which is happening in India this October. So keeping the World Cup in mind, we need to focus on the team combination and select the 11 players accordingly. I expect team India to field only those players these 20 matches who will be playing the 2023 World Cup so that everyone gets enough time to prepare themselves and this preparation for the World Cup starts with the India vs Sri Lanka series,” he said.