Rohit is India's trump card, says ex-Eng spinner Panesar

MONTY Panesar has singled out Rohit Sharma as the bigwicket for England ahead of the five-Test series beginning in Hyderabad on Thursday.

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN

"Over the last few years, Sharma has played a big role (with the bat) but we don't talk about it often enough," Pansesar, who played a big role in England's series win in 2012, told this daily. "He sets it up for the other batters. If he goes after the (James) Anderson and the spinners, the ball can go soft pretty quickly. The seam disappears and that makes it easier for the middle-order. If that consistently happens... if Sharma bats through the initial 20-30 overs in the series, I think India will win the series easily." The numbers back up Panesar's assessment. The skipper is comfortably clear in terms of runs (677) scored in India in Tests since the beginning of 2021. His two 100s in that time period is also the best.