NEW DELHI: Ravi Shastri has revealed the behind-the-scenes decision that reshaped Rohit Sharma’s Test career and turned him into one of the most destructive openers of the modern era. Speaking on The ICC Review with host Sanjana Ganesan, the former India head coach explained how a simple hunch during the 2019 World Cup led to one of the most successful role changes in Indian Test history.“Batting at four, five, this guy used to get bored,” Shastri said of Rohit’s early Test career, which was marked by inconsistency in the middle order. “Then I started dwelling on the fact, why is he so successful in one-day cricket? He likes to be out there early.”Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Rohit had always been seen as a white-ball maestro, but Shastri’s intuition suggested a bigger impact was possible in Tests — if he was sent out to open the innings. “I said, if he can go out there and do it [in ODIs], he’s got enough time on his hands to play the quicks. He’s got the shots, and the field is up, so Test cricket might be a honeymoon for him if he starts embracing it,” Shastri recalled.Who’s that IPL player?That belief was sparked during the 2019 World Cup, where Rohit smashed five centuries and finished as the tournament’s top scorer with 648 runs at an average of 81. Riding on that red-hot form, Shastri floated the idea to then-captain Virat Kohli. The plan was put into action just months later, during a home series against South Africa.“He came in for the first Test match and he opened the innings and he got a hundred,” Shastri said. “Then he didn’t look back. He figured it out.”

Rohit scored twin centuries in that match and would go on to score nine of his 12 Test hundreds as an opener. Shastri noted that Rohit’s evolution continued with technical adjustments, particularly during the challenging tour of England. “His best batting was in England… he worked on soft hands, leaving the ball, and suddenly from nowhere, he was setting up games for you.”

What began as a gut feeling turned into a transformational decision, cementing Rohit Sharma’s legacy not just as a limited-overs great, but as a complete Test cricketer — thanks to a timely hunch and the courage to back it.