Winter is departing, but Rajkot is not very warm yet. It’s a bit chilly in the mornings and evenings, while the afternoons are not quite sweltering under a blazing sun. Among those still feelings, the heat in these climes could be for Rohit Sharma.
He not only finds himself in the unenviable position of leading a batting unit suddenly short on experience. Rohit himself is short on runs. If these are not enough, he has the responsibility of leading the team against a dangerous opposition.
Since Rohit is a batter first and everything else he does on the field has something to do with how he fares in his primary role, the Mumbai man should not be in a happy frame of mind. In conditions generally good for batting, he has made 24, 39, 14 and 13 in the first two Tests. The template of putting the bowling to the sword, which worked in the World Cup, has stopped paying dividends.
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A prolonged lean patch can have two side effects, although it can’t be said that in Rohit’s case it has been alarmingly long yet. However, if this continues, he will first come under increasing pressure as a batter, especially in the absence of the likes of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul.
Two, it will put additional burden on a batting line-up with minimal experience. Yashasvi Jaiswal has played six Tests and Rajat Patidar one. If Sarfaraz Khan and wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel play, they will make Test debuts. Each failure from the skipper will increase the load on the rest, including Shubman Gill, who has just broken a poor run in his previous innings.
A combination of these two can affect Rohit the skipper as well. Captaincy is a hazardous occupation, which comes with a number of responsibilities. Lack of confidence is not the ideal state of mind while leading a troop. Players sometimes get influenced by the body language of their captain. If his shoulders drop, the rest can be caught low on morale.
Having said that, Rohit marshalled the resources well in the second Test that India had to win, after losing the first. His decision to bring back Jasprit Bumrah right after Joe Root came into bat in the first innings was a masterstroke and decisive step. In the second essay also, his bowling changes fetched immediate results. Despite showing frustration at times, he was by and large in control.
It is essential for Rohit to retain calmness when attacked by the England batters. For that, he must get at least one big score under his belt immediately. After a match-winning century against Australia in Nagpur last year, in his third Test as captain, he has done well just thrice. Those knocks of 103, 80 and 57 came against the West Indies.
Rohit’s batting record as a Test captain is much less flattering than as a regular team member. 13 Tests as captain have fetched 780 runs at 37.14. His overall record reads 3,827 in 56 at 44.50. It can’t be said whether this dip has been caused by the additional responsibility, but figures don’t lie. Rohit has underachieved as a batter when leading the side.
That said, if there were to be one occasion for Rohit to recover his touch as a batter while being a Test captain, it is now. Success can galvanise the team, while failure may lead to soul-searching and more. The good news for him is, the Rajkot pitch looks like one where the batters will enjoy more than the bowlers. This might just be the ideal opportunity for Rohit to bury the recent past.