India have won just two of their last eight Tests under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy. Aadya Sharma looks ahead to a crucial few weeks for Rohit’s legacy as Test skipper.
“Shocked!! But congratulations on a successful stint as Indian captain”.
When Virat Kohli departed as India’s Test captain two years ago, it seemed to shock Rohit Sharma as much as the whole of India, his social media reported. Last month, Rohit replaced Kohli as India’s limited overs captain. When he was officially named Kohli Test’s successor, the then selection committee chairman Chetan Sharma called Rohit “the number one cricketer in the country”.
As Mumbai Indians’ trophy-collecting leader and brilliant tactician, Rohit looked poised to lead India’s burgeoning Test team to greater heights.
After 2 years and 12 tests, I have more worries than hopes.
Rohit took over an Indian team that, despite being in a period of transition, set an unprecedented home record and was rich in the bowling department and rich in batting power. It was a team led by Kohli’s aggressiveness, a team that refused to budge. Rohit’s switch to style was a game changer.
Rohit’s stint began with four consecutive wins, two against Sri Lanka and two against Australia, one year apart. As soon as we reached our anniversary a year ago, cracks started to appear. Since then, he has lost four of his Tests, drew two and won two.
My recent trip to Hyderabad in England was shocking. India were the overwhelming favorites for most people, with Mohammed Siraj even announcing that India would win the match within two days if the tourists got hooked on Buzz Ball. England won the first of his four matches, showing that the once impregnable Indian fortress can be breached in more ways than one.
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While the batting and bowling were disappointing at times, it was Rohit’s captaincy that left much to be desired.
Throughout the Test, Rohit’s defensive setup created a clear path for England to pull back into the match. When the combination of Ollie Pope and Ben Foakes broke down in the second innings, England’s lead stood at 85 for four wickets. At crucial points when attacking the rear would have been a wise decision, Rohit inexplicably kept opening up the field.
This will allow Rehan Ahmed (34 of 81) and Tom Hartley (32 of 52) to provide vital support to Ollie Pope and ultimately help him achieve important goals. I did. Rehan and Hartley were mostly out of the catch position to challenge the defense, so there was no danger of them getting out any time soon and they were able to beat the spinners easily.
The spears came out after the game.
“I thought Rohit Sharma’s captaincy was very average,” wrote Michael Vaughan in a column for the Telegraph. “I thought he was very reactive. I didn’t think he was proactive in manipulating the field or changing his bowling. I couldn’t answer.”
In his epic 196, Pope made good use of the reverse sweep to ensure a steady flow of runs while forcing the Indian bowlers to reconsider their length. At the end of the game, he revealed his modus operandi.
“If we can keep hitting them, if we can hit them four times with their best ball on a reverse sweep, we’re going to have more bad balls than hitters,” Pope said. “This will lead to more short balls and half-volleys and free up the outfield.”
With reverse swing becoming the obvious way to fight back, Rohit couldn’t do much to neutralize it. He left the fielder for 45 and was trailing by one point, but Pope still managed to break it with seemingly ease. His 92 of his 196 runs were on the offside between the wicketkeeper and extra cover.
But more important than Pope was how Rohit’s captaincy dealt with the lower order players.
In an interview with
Cricbuzz, Dinesh Karthik, who recently worked with the England Lions team, did not hesitate to criticize Rohit’s fielding actions.
“Today (day 4) Hartley and Rehan had an unusual time at bat. They only gave up single shots and came close to catch them and put pressure on them. There were no players.This should not be tolerated by Rohit, rather he needs to understand that in Test cricket, just like batting, you have to attack and show intent with the ball.No. A 9 or 10 batsman can’t easily single on a turn pitch. He shouldn’t allow this. It’s time to stand up – they missed the ball in an area.”
He added that Rohit did not use any stupid points or short legs against Foakes in the second innings, so he was able to extend his lead over Pope without much trouble.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt that Rohit could have held more attacking space,” Karthik said. “Foulkes was playing for a place in the team. He was out in the first innings, but when he came in in the matter of time, there was no stupidity or shortness of foot. These I don’t know if the field was set by the bowler or Rohit, you need an infield and an outfield and Rohit has made it work well but he doesn’t have a catcher for the new batsman or bowler It was.”
It wasn’t just tactical. The Indian fielders looked noticeably weakened as the partnership grew, showing a lack of desire to attack. The captain let things go his way.
“The same goes for body language (defense). This is uncharted territory,” Ravi Shastri said in his commentary. “This is a moment of energy. Suddenly the shoulders drop. This shows the opponent that the home team is on defense.”
It’s not all doom and gloom. India were in the lead for most of the matches and still have a chance to win the series as expected. However, the road will only become more difficult. Without Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul and Mohammed Shami for at least one more game, the unit will be severely tested.
It would be unfair to stack Rohit’s method with Kohli’s, but they are increasingly being compared. Bourne said on Club Prairie Fire‘s podcast. “They missed out on Virat Kohli’s captaincy in Test cricket a lot. Had Virat been captain this week, India wouldn’t have lost the match. Rohit is a legend, a great player. .But I felt like he completely switched off.”
One Test did not define Rohit and was not the only reason for the defeat in Hyderabad, but the outcome of this series could decide his future path. If we win, everything will be fine. However, failure is not welcomed. There is no clear candidate to replace Rohit, but at 37 years old, the window of opportunity to correct a Test legacy that is trending in the wrong direction is rapidly closing.
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