As I was watching Mumbai Indians play Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday evening, I was wondering if these two legends of Indian cricket would have their final crack at a World Test Championship (WTC) title come 7 June at The Oval. Neither is getting younger, and to see both in top shape for another two years is perhaps unrealistic. For two of the greatest of our generation, who both regard Test cricket as the pinnacle of the sport, it could well be a final attempt at landing the coveted trophy.
The Rohit Sharma – Virat Kohli relationship has been the subject of continuous scrutiny in Indian cricket. Each time Rohit had a mini-slump in form, Kohli was asked to comment on his vice-captain and possible tension between the two. Now, with Rohit in charge, a lot of questions are directed at him about Kohli’s future. If there is a word said by either that is open-ended, it can or will be interpreted as a sign of a rift. That India’s best don’t see eye to eye is a great media story. The truth, as Gary Kirsten had once said to me, is that not everyone needs to be friends in a cricket team.
This is what it is about. Whether Rohit and Kohli are best friends shouldn’t even be the subject of media scrutiny. Two huge achievers with egos need not necessarily go out for family dinners with each other. What they do in their private space isn’t relevant to us. What is of importance is how they back each other on the field come 7 June, and try and push past that final frontier. And in that regard, they have been fantastic. From taking on the media to smiling at negative questions, Rohit the captain has cocooned Kohli each time he has had an opportunity. And as leader, that’s how it should be. Talk, as they say, is cheap and it doesn’t really matter what the world says or thinks as long as the two superstars are on the same page when it comes to Indian cricket.
There has been a lot of talk this IPL about Rohit’s form and Kohli’s strike-rate. None of it is relevant when we think of the WTC. IPL form was never an index. Never can be. Skill against the red ball in England, in swinging conditions, is a fundamentally different challenge from playing through the line against the white ball in 40C heat in India. Kohli and Rohit both have the skill set, whether they score in the IPL or not. With Pujara in prime form for Sussex, the two of them stepping up represents India’s best chance against Australia.
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Steve Waugh and Shane Warne presided over the best period in Australia’s cricket history. The team was literally unbeatable under Waugh’s leadership, with Warne the wrecker-in-chief with the ball. Two very different personalities, they took the Australian team to dizzying heights. On the field, they were professionals, with the focus solely on winning cricket matches for Australia. And their fans did not turn up as Waugh fans or Warne fans – they turned up as Aussie fans who all wanted Australia to win.
That’s what we want to see in India in the coming weeks. No Virat-ian or Rohit-ian kind of divisiveness. The Rohit camp against the Kohli camp makes for a good headline. The truth is that every achiever will have an ego. If they don’t, it is news. Not the other way round. Was Warne wrong in wanting to captain Australia? If Kohli and Rohit want to outdo each other as performers, is that wrong in any way? Frankly, isn’t that natural between the two best players in the team?
Rohit and Kohli are two very different personalities, but with one common goal – excellence. They might well have very different routes to success, but the ultimate goal remains the same –to win tournaments for India. When I interviewed Rohit soon after he scored five hundreds in the 2019 World Cup, my assumption was that he would be super pleased with his own performance.
The reality was that he wasn’t. He kept asking what was the point of all those hundreds when the trophy had gone to another dressing room? He was disappointed at not being able to get the job done, and individual accolades did not matter. The same would be true for Kohli. In a team sport, it is ultimately about the results, and never about the individual.
In the case of Rohit and Kohli, we want them to be at their best in the upcoming WTC final. With the next final two years away, it could well be the last crack they both have at winning the Test Championship for India.
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