Published: Aug 11, 2013, 11:59 AM (IST)
Edited: Aug 25, 2014, 12:41 AM (IST)
Chris Rogers’s innings at Chester-le-Street in the fourth Ashes Test is a testament to the fact that self-belief can get you what you want © Getty Images
By Sarang Bhalerao
Making a comeback in the side post 30 years of age is never an easy proposition. The chances are slim if you are 35. But as they say you should keep on performing in cricket because it is never too late for you to play. Australia’s batting failures at the top coupled with some wretched Test performances paved the way for Chris Rogers.
The fighting, gritty knock at Chester-le-Street on Day Two of the fourth Ashes Test was a determined effort. The conditions were not exactly good for batting. Rogers, however, was patient enough to play the good balls and cash in on the loose stuff. He doesn’t have extravagant shots in his repertoire but what he has is truckloads of forbearance along with some 20,000 First-Class runs and 60 centuries to his name.
Rogers is not exactly a delight to the eye. He might look ugly like he did missing out on a high full-toss at Lord’s. He might seem as if he is getting bogged down. Occasionally he might look like getting out anytime but be rest assured he will get runs whenever balls are there in his scoring area. At the start of the innings those areas are in front of the wicket off the fuller deliveries. He also plays the ball late and the deft touch often gets him a lot of runs behind the wicket.
Rogers leaves a lot of balls at the start of the innings. He gets beaten often like he got beaten by Stuart Broad quite a number of times. There was a DRS review against Rogers which was mighty close. But Rogers survived it and was intent on making his start count. He respected that the bowler was the moral victor, but Rogers knew that as long as he has an asterisk at the front of his score it would help Australia largely. He had the belief to weather the storm and cash in on the opportunities later — when he would be set.
Fortune favoured Rogers largely. When he was one run shy of his half-century he was dropped in the slips. Rogers admonished himself, but was still egging himself on to make this start count. When he was in his nineties, Rogers was kept quiet for a long time by Graeme Swann who was bowling tight lines. At 96 Rogers almost succumbed to the pressure by playing an ambitious shot off the off-spinner. The ball took the edge and fell just short of mid-on. Rogers immediately walked back, talked to himself and calmed his nerves. For a man who knows a thing or two about scoring hundreds at the First-Class level the Test match pressure got to him. But at 35, he was still traversing the path towards his first three-figure score at the Test level.
Finally there came a moment which is always treasured by any cricketer — the first Test ton. Rogers swept Swann hard off the stumps towards square-leg. The dream of boyhood, the dream which consumed his cricketing life was finally achieved. At the end of the day Rogers said, “[You] can’t take this hundred away from me.”
The innings is a testament to the fact that self-belief can get you what you want. Rogers, one may say, was fortunate but he has earned this fortune and has deserved every bit of this accolade. He will be looking to score big, score more runs, look for more hundreds. He is hungry and he looks the best opener Australia have got. Life has started for Rogers at 35, Australia will expect many such tons from the southpaw.
(Sarang Bhalerao hails from a family of doctors, but did his engineering. He then dumped a career in IT with Infosys to follow his heart and passion and became a writer with CricketCountry. A voracious reader, Sarang aspires to beat Google with his knowledge of the game! You can follow him on Twitter here)
