WTC Final: Rohit Sharma marks 50th Test in biggest red-ball game | Cricket News – Times of India
Apart from early morning media commitments, like the one at 9.15 am London time at the Oval on Tuesday, the other thing that Rohit Sharma loves to hate is the word “talented”. It was used liberally to describe his game in his formative years. “I hate that word. Because it means you are just gifted and don’t have to work for things,” he had said in 2018.
Rohit was generously gifted in terms of picking length early. Hence, at times, in the sporadic appearances he made in Test cricket, his dismissals gave the impression that he didn’t romance the grind of Test cricket enough. Caught mid-on, caught mid-off, caught deep cover, caught deep mid-wicket after glorious 20s and 30s. It added to the fans’ frustrations and helped his critics sharpen their knives.
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Rohit was generously gifted in terms of picking length early. Hence, at times, in the sporadic appearances he made in Test cricket, his dismissals gave the impression that he didn’t romance the grind of Test cricket enough. Caught mid-on, caught mid-off, caught deep cover, caught deep mid-wicket after glorious 20s and 30s. It added to the fans’ frustrations and helped his critics sharpen their knives.
As Rohit prepares to lead India in the WTC final in what will be his 50th Test, it was curious to hear him mention the word “grind” to derive success in England. “England, in general, is pretty challenging conditions for batters, but as long as you are prepared to have a good grind, you can have success,” he told the broadcasters during an event.
England has been both kind and cruel to Rohit. His ungainly lofted shot against Moeen Ali, when set, opened the door for an England comeback in Southampton in the third Test, when India were leading the 2014 Test series 1-0 after Ishant Sharma’s 7-74 and Ajinkya Rahane’s glorious ton at Lord’s. He was dropped from the 2018 Test series after having a great white-ball leg, where he belted tons in a T20I and an ODI.
In the 2019 World Cup, he struck a record five hundreds and scored 648 runs in India’s run to the semis. Three of those hundreds came against the quality seam-bowling attacks of South Africa, England and Pakistan.
In the 2013 Champions Trophy, his solid opening stands with player of the tournament Shikhar Dhawan formed the bed rock of India’s title triumph.
In the 2021 Test series, his 83 at Lord’s and his 127 at the Oval were batting clinics in curbing one’s natural instincts and playing close to the body. He scored 432 runs across five Tests of that English summer which included the previous WTC final vs New Zealand in Southampton.
Like MS Dhoni, who gave his middling ODI career a lifeline in 2013 by making him open, Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri’s decision to open with Rohit in Tests at home vs South Africa four years ago triggered a renaissance. In 22 Tests that he has opened across the two WTC cycles, Rohit has scored 1794 runs at 52.76.
Hence, playing his 50th Test is a milestone even he would have been unsure of reaching, thanks to inconsistent early returns.
Rohit knows apart from providing a solid start, he also carries the burden of winning a global event for India, something that fans demand as their right and something people thought will come by with just a mere change of guard from Kohli to Rohit, thanks to his success for Mumbai Indians in the IPL.
“Whether it’s me or someone else, even the guys before, their role was to take Indian cricket forward and win as many games, as many championships as possible. For me also, it will be the same. I want to win games, win championships. That is what you play for,” Rohit said when asked about the kind of legacy he wants to leave as captain.
“It will be nice if I can win one or two championships when I decide to move on from this job.”
If those one or two happen to be either the WTC final or the ODI World Cup, or both, his legacy as captain will surpass his legacy as a batter.
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