Let me start with a conversation with Rohit Sharma on February 25, 2020. He had hurt his hamstring in New Zealand and was back in India midway through the tour, forced to miss the two Test matches he was so looking forward to playing. He was in red-hot form in the white-ball leg of the tour and, just a few months earlier, had scored five hundreds in the 2019 World Cup, the most by a batsman in a single tournament in the competition’s history. To get injured yet again when in such form was terribly unfortunate.
It was the first time I had seen Rohit since that fateful day in Manchester in July 2019, and it was expected that the conversation would turn to the World Cup at some point. “The five hundreds really don’t mean much anymore,” he said in a very matter-of-fact manner. “Personally, it was a great achievement but when you are playing a team sport, it is never about personal milestones. When I reached home after the World Cup and everyone was congratulating me for the hundreds, I can very honestly tell you I did not feel any elation. The real prize was in the England dressing room and it was difficult to accept that we had not made the final.”
As he was getting miked up for the interview, a rare one-hour conversation which eventually wasn’t broadcast because of Covid, Rohit was mumbling something to himself. He seemed a little distracted and I couldn’t make sense of what was going on. Seeing me slightly anxious, he smiled and said, “World cup jeetna hai [We need to win the World Cup]. This is one obsession we have to fulfil.”
It was part self-introspection and part admonishment. He was speaking to himself more than he was speaking to me. He was desperate to win a world event, as if his legacy as a cricketer was dependant on it.
That’s what it is all about for one of the best of our era. Rohit is a leader, and for someone of his calibre, it is never about individual glory. As one of the most successful captains in franchise cricket, Rohit knows how to win. For him to come close multiple times and yet not have a 50-over World Cup title to show for it is not something he can accept. “Unless we win a World Cup, I will be very disappointed,” he said.
It is that clarity of thought that has defined Rohit as a player. One example from the New Zealand series in January 2020 helps substantiate the point. It was the third T20 international on January 29, 2020, and Rohit and KL Rahul needed to score 18 runs off the Super Over to win India the game after the two teams were tied at the end of an intense 40 overs. The equation became tougher after the first four balls, with India needing two sixes off the last two against Tim Southee, someone Rohit will yet again face in Mumbai this afternoon.
“Batting in a Super Over is very different to batting at the start of an innings,” Rohit told me. “In this game, I was moving a lot inside the crease in the first half of the Super Over, and wasn’t able to connect the way I wanted to. That’s when I realised I needed to do things differently. My mind went back to a Super Over between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Lions in the IPL a couple of seasons earlier. Aaron Finch and Brendon McCullum were batting for the Lions and I had handed the ball to Jasprit Bumrah, arguably the best Super-Over bowler in the world. With Jasprit, you know he is in control. However, it was somewhat different in the Super Over. Jasprit walked up to me and asked if he should bowl the wide yorker or a low full toss? This was Jasprit Bumrah, the best in the world, and even he was under pressure against two very good batsmen.
“When I thought back to that game, I said to myself that Tim Southee who was bowling to me would also be feeling the pressure, for he knew I was capable of hitting big sixes. All I needed to do was stay calm and move as little as possible. If I stayed still, the chances of me connecting were that much more. And that’s exactly what happened. Southee bowled one in my zone, which I dispatched for six, and all of a sudden, the tables had turned. Once I had hit a six off the fifth ball, I knew I would be able to close it out for India. All the pressure was now on Southee, and it was more than likely he would make a mistake. He did, and I hit another six to finish things off.”
It was fascinating to hear him articulate his thought process. Here was someone who knew exactly what he was doing, and that’s what sets him apart as a cricketer.
It is this clarity of thought as leader that India will need this evening against New Zealand in Mumbai. There will be occasions in a huge semi-final when the opposition are dominant. The leader can’t lose nerve. He has to keep control and get things back on track. From what we have seen so far in this World Cup, the leader in Rohit is ready for any adversity. He is ready to sacrifice his big scores for a brisk start, and is ready to do anything to make sure India get the result they need.
Can he do what MS Dhoni did in 2011 – thrive under pressure and excel? Can he impose himself against the great New Zealand fast bowling duo of Trent Boult and Southee, not to forget Lockie Ferguson? It is yet another moment of reckoning for Rohit. Going by the nine matches now behind us, we will back him in the quest for Indian cricket’s Mission Impossible. Rohit is all set to lead the mission in Mumbai.