India led by skipper Roht Sharma, have qualified for the finals of the ongoing ICC Champions Trophy defeating Australia by 4 wickets on Tuesday. Virat Kohli once again was the major factor as India chased down a modest total of 264 runs.

Despite winning the game, the Indian team needs to rethink about the strategies and approaches especially in the batting department. You can’t always rely on one man to get you out of trouble in every match. Gill has been amongst runs along with Shreyas in the middle order. Lower middle order also looks good with allrounders like Hardik and Jadeja. Axar Patel has proved to be very beneficial for the balance of the team as he can bat at any order and is the only left hander apart from Jadeja.

As a captain of the side, Rohit needs to think about his strategies as a batsman. No doubt, he has been spot on with this captaincy, field placements and tactical bowling changes. But if you look at his batting, his approach has always been attack in recent times. One can agree he has scored significant amount of runs with his aggressive display of batting. However, being the skipper of the team, he can’t always go in full attack mode. He is the senior most player of the team along with Virat and has to show some intent to play according to the game.

Rohit didn't made most of the dropped chances

In the semifinal against Australia, he was dropped two times. Rohit slashed at a short and wide delivery, sending it straight to Connolly, who was making his tournament debut. Caught off guard, Connolly reacted late and went at it with hard hands, causing the ball to slip through his grasp. At that moment, Rohit was on 13 off 8 deliveries. Later after a few balls, Rohit sliced one high into the air off Dwarshuis. Labuschagne gave it a full chase from mid-off but couldn’t reach in time to take the catch. This was very similar to the way he was caught by Travis Head in the finals of the ICC Men’s World Cup 2023.

A great player always makes the most out of the dropped chances. But Rohit as always was on attacking mode rather than playing the situation. India didn’t had huge target to chase and the pitch was also tricky. Virat scored just 5 fours in his inning of 84 runs suggesting that it was not a pitch where you could score boundaries easily. India needed a solid partnership at that time rather than going for boundaries. The partnership between Virat and Shreyas was a lot about taking singles and doubles rather than going for the big one. Being a senior player, this was what was expected from Rohit too.

We know that attacking is his natural game but players like him should play the situation at times. A semifinal against Australia is a very very big game and you can’t afford too many mistakes against them. Rohit wasn’t looking for singles or doubles even after being dropped twice.

Yes, India won the game and are now into the finals. But this approach from skipper can’t be considered good at all. Rohit can’t always go for big shots regardless of the match situation and playing conditions.

He is in the later phase of his career. With the amount of experience he has, he should be able to take only calculated risks rather than going for everything. If you look at Virat, he is always looking for singles even if he is not scoring boundaries. That helps him reduce pressure and keep rotating the strike which also unsettles the opposition bowler to great extent.

We all know what Rohit is capable of when he is in flow. But when you aren’t at your best in a given day, try to spend time in the middle looking for singles and getting set especially when the required run rate is not a big issue and you are chasing a modest target. India would have chased the total if they played a full 50 overs. It was more about wickets in hand instead of quick runs at the time Rohit got out.

We all want to see Rohit scoring runs in the final for India. Let's hope he comes out with good intent. Good intent doesn’t always refer to attacking every ball. It is about analyzing the match scenario and playing conditions and taking those calculated risks. If you are finding it difficult to score boundaries, take singles and go to non striker end. Spend more time till you start timing the ball well again.