Rohit Sharma has batted everywhere from Nos 3 to 6 in India’s batting order in Test cricket. He started off at No. 6 with immense early success before being pushed up to No. 5 with moderate success. The move further up the order to No. 3 was an experiment that was not particularly successful. He has batted at No. 4 only once. This constant shifting up and down the order has done little to help his consistency, which mirrors the early days of his ODI career. By now Rohit has proven his immense batting class in ODIs by doing well in almost every country he has played in, but that is yet to translate to Test runs.
One major reason for this has been a lack of clarity in Rohit’s role in the side. India’s Test line-up of the 2000s and early 2010s had definitive roles for each player. Virender Sehwag was the bruiser at the top, who tore apart bowling attacks. His opening partners (from Aakash Chopra to Gautam Gambhir and later Murali Vijay) ensured a productive start and laid a solid base. Rahul Dravid was the fire-fighter who was meant to bat through. Sachin Tendulkar was the most versatile batsman of the line-up, capable of playing as per the situation. Sourav Ganguly was the man who took on the spinners and scored important runs against the second new ball. VVS Laxman was the man who could either build big partnerships with the top order or rescue the team from a precarious position with the tail.
The current side is less defined in their roles. This is obvious by looking at the juggling around of the batting order. Barring Murali Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, and Virat Kohli, there are no slots which have a permanent batsman. Cheteshwar Pujara was India’s No. 3 for an extended period till he lost form. Rohit, Ajinkya Rahane, KL Rahul, and Ishant Sharma have since batted there, though Ishant will probably not be a contender for that position any time soon.
India seem to have zeroed in on Rahane to bat at No. 3 for now, and with Kohli’s six-batsman-five-bowler strategy it means that Rohit will be India’s No. 5 for some time now. However, it is not just his position in the line-up, but also his role that needs to be defined. Rohit has the ability to play every shot in the book, and can score at a brisk rate; but he has the upsetting tendency to get out against the run of play even when all the momentum is in his favour. He has been guilty of playing unneeded shots at inopportune moments while set and this is a cause for concern.
The major problem with Rohit is that he is unable to convert his frequent starts to big scores. Since his first two innings — which were both centuries — he has crossed 70 only twice, and never progressed beyond 79. This is a huge problem for a frontline batsman, especially when the team is already playing with only five batsmen and a wicketkeeper of considerably less batting talent than MS Dhoni.
Rohit needs to be told whether his role in the team is just to go hard at the bowling, or to preserve his wicket and guide the lower order through to a decent score once the top order gives them a start. He is capable of scoring ODI double centuries; he is most certainly accomplished enough to get similarly big scores in Tests.
(Shiamak Unwalla, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a self-confessed Sci-Fi geek who loves cricket more than cricketers. His Twitter handle is @ShiamakUnwalla)
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