“I find him quite tough to bowl to” – Josh Hazlewood on Rohit Sharma ahead of Border-Gavaskar Trophy

Australia’s gun fast bowler Josh Hazlewood has picked Indian captain Rohit Sharma as one of the toughest batters to bowl to. Rohit is known to have a lot of time against the pacers and has a great gift of timing the ball.

Rohit has scored 708 runs in 12 Test matches against Australia at an average of 33.71 and he is going to hold the key as an opener in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar trophy. Rohit had proved his mettle in the tough English conditions as he had scored 368 runs in four Test matches at an average of 52.57 on the 2021 tour of England.

Meanwhile, Rohit has scored 54 runs off 171 balls against Josh Hazlewood while the Australian veteran seamer has dismissed the Indian batter on one occasion.

Josh Hazlewood said on Star Sports, “I remember one time India came out, he battled at 5 or 6 and then last time he opened. He’s faced the new ball a lot. I feel like he plays the quicks unbelievably well. The bounce doesn’t seem to worry him, the movement doesn’t. He’s got all the time in the world. So, I find him quite tough to bowl to.”

On the other hand, Australian veteran off-spinner Nathan Lyon picked the trio of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Rishabh Pant as the key for India on the upcoming tour of Australia.

Lyon said on Star Sports as quoted by TOI, “Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Rishabh Pant are probably going to be the three really big ones. But then you’ve still got Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Jadeja, and who else will come out—another five, I’m not sure.”

“But it’s a pretty amazing line-up they’ve got, so it’s going to be a massive challenge. As I said, if we, as a bowling group, are good enough for long periods, hopefully, we can challenge their defence,” he added.

The opening Test match between India and Australia will be played at Perth from November 22 onwards.