'His Class Is Different': Shardul Thakur Points Out What Makes Rohit Sharma Special Amid Poor Form Concerns

India warmed up for the Champions Trophy in style as they whitewashed England 3-0 in the recently concluded ODI series. The 'Men In Blue' are scheduled to start their Champions Trophy campaign against Bangladesh on February 20 in Dubai.

Rohit's form will be of paramount importance for the Indian Cricket Team. They have been clubbed alongside Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand in Group A and it won't be a walk in the park for the 2013 champions.

Shardul Thakur Backs Rohit Sharma To Go Big In Champions Trophy

Rohit underwent a lean patch as he failed to put up runs on the board in the last two series against New Zealand and Australia. But the Indian captain hits back at his critics with a brilliant century against England in the 2nd ODI. Rohit's Mumbai teammate Shardul Thakur revealed how the Indian opener sounded confident during the Ranji Trophy game against Jammu And Kashmir.

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In an interaction with RevSportz the fast bowler said,  'When he played that Ranji game for us and did not score runs, we had a chat because he had not scored in Australia either. But he was so confident that he told me, 'I know the runs are not coming now, but all I need is just one innings. Then, runs will come automatically again.'

Rohit's no-nonsense batting approach has helped India in the past two ICC tournaments and he is expected to continue batting with the same mindset. Both Rohit and Virat Kohli will have to come up with substantial contributions throughout the tournament if India are to finish on the podium.

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Shardul further added, ‘The way he was batting (in the Cuttack ODI vs England), it did not even seem like he was out of form even once. He might get out in some balls, that happens to everyone in the nets. Apart from that, he looked very comfortable out there. It’s just a matter of luck...you can only blame luck. The way he hits those sixes, he is such a dangerous batter in every scenario. His class is different from all the rest.’

India Will Be One Of The Favourites In ICC Champions Trophy

India named their final 15-member squad for the Champions Trophy as they made two changes to the provisional squad. Jasprit Bumrah has been ruled out due to a back injury and Harshit Rana replaced him. Young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal made his way out for Varun Chakaravarthy who also made his ODI debut against England recently.