'Rohit Sharma's Aggressive Starts Allowed Virat Kohli to Just Set Out And...': Matthew Hayden

Legendary Australia batter Matthew Hayden shared his views on India captain and swashbuckling opener Rohit Sharma’s aggressive approach with the bat and said it has allowed the middle-order to get set.

Rohit has been in incredible form this World Cup and has scored 503 runs in 9 matches at an astonishing strike rate of 121.50. The skipper has been batting with a positive approach in the powerplay which releases pressure from the other batters during the middle phase of the innings.

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Hayden pointed out that Rohit’s aggressive starts also helped Virat Kohli to take some time and play the way he wanted to. Kohli has been the leading run-getter in the ongoing World Cup at the moment with 594 runs in 9 matches.

“Rohit Sharma has been really aggressive in this World Cup tournament. When you think about the mindset of what that means for his side, one is he has made the batting look easy, and two is he has a strike rate of 130 inside the powerplay. That has allowed the middle order, especially Virat Kohli, to just set out and put on that computer brain of his and work out exactly what needs to happen. He’s been a marquee player for India for some time, missed out in 2011, mind you, come 2023 he is not missing out,” Hayden told Star Sports.

During the same discussion, former Australia limited-overs captain Aaron Finch also talked highly of Rohit and his aggressive start made the bowlers panic and they went defensive against him.

“The thought process behind Rohit is he’s trying to get the team off to a quick start. You see, the wicket tends to get slower as the tournament has gone on. So, that initial powerplay to put pressure on the opposition is really crucial. I think what that’s done is it’s changed the bowler’s mindset before the game has even started, knowing that Rohit’s going to come really hard at them. They start panicking a bit and maybe go into a defensive mode early on, and that plays into his hands as India has gotten off to some brilliant starts,” Finch told Star Sports.