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Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has urged star batter Rohit Sharma to focus on his game instead of captaincy. India captain Rohit Sharma is going through to rough patch in the ongoing five-match Test series against England. He has managed scores of 24, 39, 14 and 13 in the first two Tests. Speaking on Rohit’s form, Manjrekar feels that the star batter has overburdened himself with the weight of captaincy, and it is causing a negative impact on his batting.

“I just wonder whether Rohit Sharma is getting too caught up in trying to make an impact as a leader. It’s got to be Rohit Sharma the batter first and then the captain because when you’re captain, most things are beyond your control,” Manjrekar said during a chat with ESPNCricinfo.

Manjrekar urged Rohit to follow former India captain MS Dhoni’s funda of following the process, saying that batting should be his first priority.

“Try and do the right things and hold the words of MS Dhoni. You do the process and wait for things to happen, but batting is something that’s within his control very much,” the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

In the end, Manjrekar hoped that Rohit can regain his form from 2021 where he scored ton of runs during the tour of England.

“If Rohit Sharma becomes the Rohit Sharma for a couple of years back, especially the one that we saw in England in that full series would be great. The Rohit Sharma that we saw in the first Test match in the home series against Australia. He’s got to go back to where he looked like a batter who looked supreme in Test matches. We want Rohit Sharma getting runs,” Manjrekar further explained.

Meanwhile, India won the second Test in Vizag by 106 runs to draw level in the 5-match series.

The series is now finely poised as they take a break before the third Test in Rajkot, beginning on February 15.

The England players had flown to Abu Dhabi after the second Test and will return to India before the third match.