3 min readUpdated: Jul 18, 2026 06:50 PM IST
India bowling coach Morne Morkel backed Rohit Sharma to overcome his lean run in the ongoing ODI series against England, insisting there were “no worries and concerns” over the veteran opener’s form ahead of Sunday’s series decider against England at Lord’s.
Rohit has made scores of 11 and 26 in the first two matches, with Sunday’s game offering him one final opportunity to make a substantial contribution in the series.
“Rohit, as I said earlier, it is hard work with a new ball up front. We have seen that in the entire series. The ball is moving around. So batting up front, it is not easy. No doubt Rohit will work it out. He has done it in the past. He is experienced. And he just brings that calmness to the batting line-up. So without a doubt, no worries and concerns at all with the way he is going about things,” Morkel said in the pre-match press conference on Saturday.
With Washington Sundar ruled out of the series decider after missing India’s defence of 233 in Cardiff on Thursday, Morkel said all options remained open over who would replace the all-rounder in the playing XI.
“I think as I sit here, all options are on the table. We literally arrived here now half an hour ago. So I am pretty sure Gautam (Gambhir) will have a look at the surface, and they probably will announce 12 or 13 guys and then tomorrow make the final call in terms of overhead, in terms of what we see then. But yeah, I think at the moment all the players are still in line for selection for tomorrow,” he said.
The pace duo of Prasidh Krishna and Gurnoor Brar returned combined figures of 3 for 119 from 19.1 overs in the second ODI, and Morkel felt they executed their plans well despite England chasing down 234. He added that Joe Root’s innings made the difference.
“I thought, to be honest with you, the way we bowled in the last game was exceptional,” Morkel said.
Story continues below this ad
“Just looking at the numbers, the high speeds that the boys are generating, the areas that we have bowled on in operating was great to see. We have gone with the thinking that we wanted to use Prasidh (Krishna) and Gurnoor (Brar) there with that extra bounce in that middle phase.”
“Crucial it is to get those wickets in the middle phase, like you just mentioned. So we will keep on working on ways and trying to find how we can make those breakthroughs. I thought Joe played exceptionally well, classy innings there. So, in terms of tomorrow, how are we going to go about it, we have got a couple of plans in place, and hopefully it will all work,” he added.
