In the list of India’s highest run-getters in Tests, Rohit Sharma occupies the 16th spot – with 4,301 runs in 110 outings, an average of 40.57 and 12 hundreds. The numbers aptly capture his place among the country’s best willow-wielders. Rohit was a good batsman with great moments in Tests. But in view of his undisputed gifts, the statistics are bound to imply that his talents never soared fully in the longest version.
Even more fascinating is the company of the 4,000-ers from his country — that bracket where a batsman is not good enough to be counted among the greats yet superior to most of those to have worn Test stripes. At the upper end is MS Dhoni (4,867), whose batting in the five-day format was acquired and laborious; then comes Mohinder Amarnath, the self-admittedly less-gifted batsman than his brothers but one who overcame technical glitches with toughness of mind.
Rohit does share some of his traits, his game was predetermined to fail in England, and he did on his maiden tour to those shores. But in 2021, he achieved the discipline, more than soundness of technique, to score a hundred and an 83 as an opener, no less.
The one beneath him is current head coach , a less graceful batsman, but Rohit embraced Gambhir-like resolve in the latter half of his career, and both were last among old-fashioned destroyers of spin bowling.
But with Rohit, the question will always linger — did he underachieve? Perhaps, he did. These are some of the knocks that capture the spirit of Rohit, through various phases of his career:
83 in Lord’s (2021): He scored a hundred later in the tour, but this came on a much difficult surface against an inspired James Anderson, in only the third innings as an opener in the most hostile locale for those in his profession. It was the first time he showed the world that there was a different dimension to his game. For the first 48 balls, he didn’t strike a single four, as he mustered just eight runs. It was like Jackie Chan fiddling with a violin. He did raise his tempo, but only when the ball had lost its sting and the sun was out.
Some of these shots 😍
Congratulations on an outstanding Test career .
— Lord’s Cricket Ground (@HomeOfCricket)
37 in Adelaide (2018): Under a bright Adelaide sun, the Kookaburra ball shine-less and smiling, he seemed to have cracked the elusive overseas code. He cover-drove Pat Cummins for the most gorgeous cover-driven six he had ever struck, and drove and pulled with elan, before he perished attempting to heave Nathan Lyon into the Torrens river. The masterly off-spinner had shortened his length a bit, Rohit pre-empted the shot, and ended up toe-ending the ball to deep square-leg. He was forewarned on the previous ball, when he had slogged Lyon for a six, but it was still a mishit. Rohit stood crestfallen at the umpteenth opportunity he had squandered.
Outstanding Over Cover Six by
Rohit Sharma on Pat Cummins 🔥🐐
— Third Man (@SteynGun_8)
161 vs England in Chepauk (2021): Etched on a capricious surface where only two other batsmen reached half-centuries in the first innings from either team, accounting for half the runs his team scored under pressure after losing the first Test, he reeled out a blood-and-thunder century. It was a cheat code on destroying spinners on turners. He swept, cut, slogged and shimmied down the surface to compose a knock that would have pleased batting stalwarts of a bygone era. It was a knock that was majestic and brutal at the same time.
43 vs Australia in Adelaide (2014): He looked mostly serene on a placid surface bleeding runs. He weathered the early storm and looked to dominate Lyon. The ball before, he had lofted him over mid-on with the most fluid bat-swing. The next ball, he glided out of the crease, realised he was not to the pitch of the ball and tried to tuck it to the leg-side. But he managed only a leading edge back to the spinner. Yet another could-have-been knock entered the Rohit ledger.
176 vs South Africa in Visakhapatnam (2019): The first time he was asked to open the innings in Test cricket, and perhaps his last revival opportunity in this format, he latched onto the break to reach the three-figure mark. He illustrated his requisites to prosper in this format, the tightness of technique, the daring stroke-play and the sheer will to prolong his Test career. He would gobble up another ton in the second innings to make the spot his own for the next six years.
10 vs South Africa in Centurion (2018): For the first 26 balls, he looked relatively comfortable in dealing with and his pals on a surface with bounce and lateral movement. But then, Rabada exposed the vulnerability of his front foot’s lethargy. A few away-seamers later, he nipped one back, beat the inside edge when Rohit was looking to drive from the crease, and hit him on his thigh. The mode of dismissal became an advertisement of his Test-match fragility. His next Test arrived nearly 10 months later.
