IND vs ENG: Rohit Sharma Needs to be Little More Selective With His Shots in Test Cricket, Says Batting Coach Vikram Rathour

India opener Rohit Sharma fell to the short ball trap once again for the second time in the series against England when he tried to England's fastest bowler Mark Wood on day 4 of the second Test at Lord's. Rohit, who played a solid knock of 83 in the first innings, was dismissed for 21 while attempting a pull shot. Team India's batting coach Vikram Rathour said senior pro-Rohit needed to be a "little more selective" with his shots in the longer format. This is the fifth instance when Rohit was out while playing a pull or hook shot in Tests

"There will be analysis, of course, every time they get out, we will be having a talk, what happened and what they were thinking while batting or while they played that shot," Rathour said at the virtual post-day press conference after the fourth day's play.

India in its second innings were at 181/6 when stumps were drawn on day four, leading by 154 runs.

"As far Rohit is concerned, I think he has made it clear that that is the shot which fetches him runs, that is the shot where he gets runs with, so he is going to play those shots and we are backing him to play those shots, only thing he needs to do is to be a little-more selective, with what to play and when to play "

It's Stumps on Day 4 of the 2nd #ENGvIND Test at Lord's!#TeamIndia move to 181/6 & lead England by 154 runs.

6 1 for @ajinkyarahane88

4 5 for @cheteshwar1 @RishabhPant17 (14*) & @ImIshant (4*) will resume the proceedings on Day 5.

Scorecard ? https://t.co/KGM2YELLde pic.twitter.com/ulY0tJclSl

BCCI (@BCCI) August 15, 2021

According to Rathour, skipper Virat Kohli, who was dismissed on 20, was undone by a lapse in concentration.

"Kohli, I don't think there was any issue, it was just a lapse in concentration today, where his bat went to the ball, which he shouldn't have played and nothing more, I don't think anything old (is) coming back," the batting coach said.

Rathour said that the team needs to set a target close to the 200-run mark. "You are right, this will be a typical fifth-day wicket of a Test match, where the ball will go up and down and is also turning like we saw. So, again like I said earlier, if we can take the target near 200 runs, then it won't be easy for England," he said.

"Like (Ravindra) Jadeja bowled in the first innings, he was accurate, if he gets turn from there, he can create problems for the batsmen, and our pace attack is bowling well.

"If the ball stays up and down, like we are seeing, when the ball is hard, then, if we can add 30-40 runs more and take 1-2 early England wickets, then there will be pressure on them," he added.