Show patience with Rohit as Lanka did with Atapattu: Bangar

India’s batting coach Sanjay Bangar on Thursday tried his best to defend Rohit Sharma’s repeated failures in Test cricket stating that the Mumbaikar deserved the same patience which Sri Lanka showed towards their greats Marvan Atapattu and Kumar Sangakkara.

Rohit, who was dismissed for 1 on the opening day of the ongoing fourth Test against South Africa here, was guilty of losing his wicket to a poor shot.

His outlandish shot-selection at a critical juncture was widely castigated as India ended the day at 231/7.

Given the situation, Bangar’s example of Sangakkara seemed out of place as the recently-retired legend never failed in so many opportunities for Sri Lanka.

“There are certain times, wherein some players do take time to blossom. Best thing about Sri Lankan cricket is how they persisted with Marvan Atapattu and Kumar Sangakkara.

Because, they (SLC) stuck with them (Atapattu and Sangakkara) for long period, they served the country for long with great distinction. Patience has to be shown with players as they are bound to deliver for the team,” Bangar said trying to defend Rohit, who has often brought his team under pressure with rank bad shots.

For the record, Sangakkara never had a prolonged failure nor did Atapattu after the first five ducks in six first-class innings as he had six scores between 50 and 150 in the next 15 innings.

“Definitely, we make players aware about shot selection, whether tactical or technical. All these three things we make them aware about and where the deficiencies are creeping in,” the former India all-rounder said when asked about the batsman’s repeated mistakes.

Bangar, in fact, took refuge in Rohit’s ODI and T20 hundreds, stating that a player “hurts more than anybody” after a bad day in office.