Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has heaped praise on India captain Rohit Sharma, saying his patient side was seen while batting against Sri Lanka. The India skipper scored 83 runs off 67 balls as India beat Sri Lanka by 67 runs in the first ODI of the three-match series in Guwahati.

Pathan says Rohit Sharma played to his strengths (AP)

By India Today Web Desk: Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan has heaped praise on India captain Rohit Sharma, saying his patient side was seen while batting against Sri Lanka. The India skipper scored 83 runs off 67 balls as India beat Sri Lanka by 67 runs in the first ODI of the three-match series in Guwahati.

Speaking with Star Sports, Pathan said this is what we wanted to see during Rohit’s comeback, insisting that he was patient while batting.

“This is what we wanted to see when Rohit Sharma was coming back, that his fitness should be better, which we saw in the running between the wickets. But the best part was that the patient side of Rohit Sharma was seen in his batting, where he took his time,” said Pathan.

Pathan said Rohit was batting seamlessly against Sri Lanka and waiting for balls to come onto his stumps.

“It was seamless batting from Rohit Sharma right from the start when he hit his first four straight down the ground. After that, he was waiting for the balls to come onto his stumps,” Pathan added.

He said that Rohit played to his strengths, playing his pull shots and using his feet against the spin bowlers of Sri Lanka.

“He played to his strengths. We saw the pull shots. We also saw him using his feet against the spinners and playing big shots straight down the ground. So he scored runs all around the park,” said Pathan.

Pathan went on to say that these are great signs for Indian cricket, seeing Rohit, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill getting runs.

“These are great signs for Indian cricket where your experienced captain Rohit Sharma’s bat fired, we saw a century from the champion player Virat Kohli, and we saw good batting from Shubman Gill at the start,” Pathan added.