IND vs ENG: Root dropping Rohit in Rajkot Test turned around the series, feels former English opener

Former England opener-turned-commentator Nick Knight feels Joe Root dropping Rohit Sharma in the first innings of the third Test, in Rajkot, changed the course of the India-England series. Back then, the scoreline was 1-1 and India had lost three early wickets afteropting to bat first in Rajkot. Rohit was given a reprieve by Root, at 27, when the former English skipper dropped a catch at slips, off Tom Hartley's bowling, only for the Indian captain to make the most of it and score 131.

Rohit and Ravindra Jadeja (112) stitched a mammoth 204-run fourth-wicket stand, after India were reeling at 33-3, and took India to 445. The home side got a crucial 126-run lead and managed to setup a mammoth 557-run target, winning by a whopping 434-run margin. In the fourth and penultimate Test, both sides had their moments before Rohit & Co. won by five wickets to take an unassailable 3-1 lead.

During the ongoing fifth and final Test in Dharamsala, Knight stated that Root's dropped catch changed the course of the series. While the English cricketer stated that Ben Stokes' underperformance was also a big factor, and Root's catch changed it all.

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Knight told Jio Cinemas, "If the captain is feeling under a bit of pressure, he’s been targeted by the opposition, it makes everybody in the dressing room vulnerable. When you look at the two sides, you have Ben Stokes, whose performances individually haven’t been where he wanted them to be."

He shifted focus on Stokes' counterpart Rohit and said, "About Rohit, I go back to one factor that might have determined the outcome of the series, and it’s Joe Root dropping Rohit in Rajkot. Rohit got an outside edge off Tom Hartley and Root put that down."

He added, "At that point, he was contributing but not big scores. From that moment onwards, he has pushed on. When you look back at the bigger picture of the series, it was quite crucial."

Before his Rajkot hundred, Rohit had got starts in the first two Tests but couldn't make it count. However, Root's reprieve helped him turn it around for himself.

Rohit also slammed a crucial fifty in the Ranchi run-chase and made 103 in India's first innings in Dharamsala, in response to England's 218. Courtesy of Rohit and Shubman Gill (110), India have already taken a 200-plus lead and have a solid chance to end the five Tests serieswith a 4-1 scoreline.