Veteran India Star Delivers Verdict On Rohit Sharma's Captaincy, Questions Axar Patel's Role

Veteran Indian cricket team wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik appreciated Rohit Sharma's captaincy during Day 1 of the fourth Test match against Australia on Thursday but also pointed out multiple occasions where he could have done better. With 9 overs to go in the day's play, Rohit decided to go with the second new ball and that resulted in Aussie batters scoring freely towards the very end of the day. Karthik said in a recent interaction that Rohit could have taken the new ball directly on Day 2 and also made a couple of points about how he has used spinner Axar Patel in the match till now.

"I liked it for the large part of the day. He was proactive in field placings. He didn't use the usual method of keeping silly point, short leg. There wasn't a single bat pad and the ball didn't lob up or anything. He kept things tight consistently. After the first hour, he pulled it back, got 4 wickets. Then during that middle phase when Smith and Khawaja were playing, he held it tight and didn't give them easy boundaries," Karthik said on Cricbuzz.

"But I think him taking the new ball at that stage wasn't a great decision. In hindsight, he should have looked back and said 'Should I have bowled 9 overs with it? Or maybe 4-5? That is one. And second. Axar Patel is a very interesting case study in Rohit Sharma's captaincy so far.”

"He's got 2 pillars of Indian cricket in Jadeja and Ashwin and he is giving them a large volume of overs. But where is Axar Patel in the mix - the third spinner? We have seen him do well with the new ball; at least if you've taken the new ball, could he have taken the opportunity to bowl with it? He's got bounce, it's his home conditions," he added.