Dwaipayan Datta
Both longstanding veterans, under scrutiny for diminishing returns, must justify the belief and keep the Indian flag flying Down Under
That beautiful June afternoon in Barbados now seems a million miles away. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli – the two best Indian batters of this generation – had just realized their long-cherished dream of winning a World Cup together. Immediately after India’s title-winning run, they proceeded to announce their T20 retirements in a span of half-an-hour, but you could see both were hopeful about a bright couple of years ahead in the other two formats.
Just five months on, though, the cutthroat quality of international cricket has reminded the two champions that life can be cruel. Little did they know on June 29 that India would be departing for the five-Test series in Australia with little or no hope of making the World Test Championship final, and that there would be serious question marks over their futures.
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From a World Cup-winning captain, Rohit has now become the first Indian skipper to suffer a whitewash at home in Tests. Virat is in the middle of a most dismal year in red-ball cricket, with 250 runs from six games at an average of 22.72.
Virat turned 36 on Tuesday and it’s an age when a tour of Australia can be really challenging. We have seen some great careers coming to an end in Australia – from Dilip Vengsarkar and VVS Laxman to Rahul Dravid – and all those who have loved the Delhi cricketer for so long wouldn’t want a similar story to pan out over the next couple of months.
Former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth, who also finished his Test career in Australia in 1992, is hopeful that Virat will weather the storm. “The best thing about Virat is the determination and the hunger to achieve more. Add to that his enviable record in Australia and I think he will bounce back strongly from this debacle against New Zealand,” Srikkanth told TOI.
Virat’s first Test century came in Adelaide during the 2011-12 series and since then, the modern master has added five more to his kitty Down Under. “The bounce from the pitches in Australia isn’t something that should bother Virat. In fact, he is probably at his best against the short ball, and the fact that he is extremely fit gives him a good chance to succeed,” Srikkanth said, adding that he believes Virat still has a couple of years of Test cricket left in him.
The situation, probably, isn’t as straight forward for Rohit. Just 91 runs from three Tests against New Zealand is as bad as it can be, and it’s the nature of dismissals that’s going to worry the skipper more than anything else.
It’s the pacers who dismissed Rohit four out of six times in the New Zealand series where spinners called all the shots barring the first innings in Bengaluru. The way he was hurried on to mistiming his favourite pull-shot in both the innings at Wankhede would surely leave the right-hander a worried man going to Australia.
While Srikkanth said on his YouTube channel that Rohit may pull the curtains down on his Test career if he doesn’t do well in Australia, he went into a deeper analysis of what the captain needs to do as a batter if he has to succeed in the Border Gavaskar Trophy.
“I also had a similar batting style to Rohit, I mean a bit of a dasher. What experience taught me is that even if you are an attacking opener, it is important to give yourself a little more time in the middle, especially in Australia, before going for the shots,” Srikkanth, who was the chairman of selectors when the 2011-12 debacle in Australia happened, said.
What complicates things just a little more for Rohit is that he is the captain of the side. If the team doesn’t do well, all the pressure will come on him and the Australians will look to feed on that. They will look to keep the captain down because that can pull the entire Indian team down, a thing that Rohit has to guard against. Sunil Gavaskar, in fact, has suggested that if Rohit doesn’t lead the team in the first Test due to personal reasons, the captaincy for the entire series should be given to Jasprit Bumrah.
Srikkanth didn’t want to get into that debate, but he wants Rohit to be cautious about the fact that “your strength can sometimes turn into your weakness in Australia”.
“The Aussies have seen that Rohit isn’t at his best with the pull shot early on in his innings. They are going to bowl slightly short at a good pace on bouncy tracks to Rohit, asking him to go for his favourite stroke. All Rohit needs to do is to be slightly careful and he has the talent to manage it from there,” Srikkanth said.
That’s what all of us want. It’s on Rohit and Virat to justify the belief and keep the Indian flag flying Down Under.