Published: Jul 27, 2013, 08:10 AM (IST)
Edited: Aug 23, 2014, 09:51 PM (IST)
Rohit Sharma has scored 2,480 runs in 100 ODIs, including two centuries © AFP
India’s second One-Day International against Zimbabwe on Friday was Rohit Sharma’s 100th. It’s career that has seen some exhilarating highs and inexplicable lows. Nishad Pai Vaidya reflects on the talented Rohit’s six-year-old journey in ODIs.
Rohit Sharma is Indian cricket’s biggest enigma. Blessed with precocious talent and earmarked for stupendous success at a young age, his international career hasn’t panned out the way one would have expected when he burst on to the scene in 2007. Six years on, he has 100 One-Day Internationals (ODI) to his name — a journey that has seen promising highs and some inexplicable lows. Nevertheless, there is a perceptible sense of maturity to his batting these days which gives rise to hope that at long last Rohit will be able to justify his unquestionable talents.
The time he has to play his stroke is an unmistakable sign of a great batsman. The ability to pick the ball early and have multiple options to put it away makes batsmen like Rohit a treat to watch. His sense of timing adds to the overall effect.
These virtues have been evident right since Rohit’s early days in international cricket. As a 20-year-old, he rose to the occasion in a crucial game against South Africa at the ICC World T20 2007. The South African pace battery had rattled the top order — leaving the young Rohit with the task of rebuilding the innings. What did the young man do? With the conditions helping the seamers, he scripted a sensible knock (50 not out) and shifted gears as the innings progressed. That effort took India to a competitive 153. The rest is history. Although this knock came in a T20 International, it gave world cricket a glimpse of Rohit’s precocious talent.
A journey of ups and downs…..
As we moved into early 2008, Rohit was given a long run in the One-Day International (ODI) side. He responded with a few good performances during the Commonwealth Bank tri-series triumph Down Under. His most notable contribution came in the first final of that tournament at Sydney, where his innings of 66 was crucial to India’s comprehensive victory. Such innings only inspired confidence and India pinned its hopes on the youngster. Yet, a year down the line, his ODI berth became shaky and an inconsistent run saw him out of the side.
Rohit career graph is erratic — littered with peaks and troughs. For example, in the middle of 2010 it looked like he was living up to his promise when he returned from the tour of Zimbabwe with two hundreds (his only ODI tons till date) and followed that up with a decent showing in the Asia Cup. However, in the tri-series in Sri Lanka (August 2010), he had a string of poor scores and was dropped. In the lead-up to the 2011 World Cup, he was given a lease of life during the tour to South Africa which also ended in disappointment. As a result, he missed the bus for the mega event.
The axing from the World Cup seemed to have hit Rohit hard. Watching his team-mates lift the cup would have made him feel, “Gosh, I could have been there.” It only pushed him to return a better player as he looked in more control of his game. Not only that, but his fitness also had shown a marked improvement when India toured West Indies for an ODI series in June 2011. Eager to prove his credentials, Rohit scripted a few match-winning knocks and won the man of the series award. When the West Indies toured India that year, he was in business again and dominated them.
Although, Rohit has been given innumerable opportunities to prove his talent, he hasn’t been the luckiest candidate at times. After the successful campaign in the Caribbean, India toured England and Rohit was injured off the very first ball he faced in the ODI series. A rising delivery rapped him on the finger, shattering it instantly. Fast forward to the tour to Australia in 2011-12, a long period on the bench during the Test series broke his rhythm and he struggled to get going during the tri-series that followed.
Of course, there have been times when he has been mediocre — instances that only strengthened the arguments of his critics. In 2012, there was a phase when he had eight scores in the single digits in ten innings. That is why he is an enigma. When in form, he seems unstoppable and almost invincible. But, when he has struggled, his form has plummeted drastically.
Putting the past behind, Rohit may have found his true calling in opening the innings. Since he was summoned for the job earlier this year against England, he has been very impressive and has applied himself well. In testing conditions, he takes his time and surveys the situation before playing his strokes. During the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 and the tri-series in the Caribbean, he displayed great maturity and tempered his game to complement Shikhar Dhawan’s attacking approach. Sachin Tendulkar’s one-day career turned around when he started opening the batting. Can we expect the same with Rohit?
Are the critics too harsh on Rohit?
The critics may have been too harsh on Rohit because of his precocious talent. A poor performance instantly sparks talks about his value and whether he deserves to be in the squad. For clearer answers on the same, we should keep Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh’s cases into perspective. They were India’s young guns and hopes rested on their shoulders in the early 2000s. A comparison with Rohit’s numbers at similar stages of their respective careers would reveal a very interesting tale:
| Player | M | Runs | Ave | 100s | 50s | HS |
| Rohit Sharma | 100 | 2,480 | 31.79 | 2 | 17 | 114 |
| Mohammad Kaif | 100 | 2,369 | 34.83 | 2 | 14 | 111* |
| Yuvraj Singh | 100 | 2,367 | 30.74 | 2 | 15 | 139 |
It is evident that there isn’t much to choose between the three after 100 ODIs. Yet, Kaif and Yuvraj never battled the kind of scrutiny Rohit faces. It is only because of the high expectations his unique talent generates and when he does not answer the calls, the critics come out baying for his blood.
Test cricket and more….
Through all that, Test cricket awaits Rohit’s arrival. Despite an average of 60.03 in First-Class cricket and six years of international experience, it is quite astonishing that he hasn’t donned the Indian cap. He came agonisingly close in 2010 when South Africa visited India, but injured his ankle minutes before the game. Would life have panned out differently if he had played that game at Nagpur? The likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Virat Kohli surged ahead of him to establish themselves in the Test side. Had Rohit made his debut then, things could have been different.
Nevertheless, playing 100 ODIs is a momentous occasion for the Mumbai batsman and there is a lot more to come from Rohit. It may have been an unpredictable ride so far, but Test cricket has seen numerous late bloomers in the past. Rohit might just be one of them.
(Nishad Pai Vaidya is a Correspondent with CricketCountry and anchor for the site’s YouTube Channel. His Twitter handle is @nishad_44)
