Shamik Chakrabarty, Mumbai
A video of Rohit Sharma visiting a Ganpati Puja in Mumbai and going down on his knees to take the blessings of Lord Ganesha expectedly went viral on social media. The fans chanted, “Mumbaicha Raja, Rohit Sharma”.
India’s ODI captain looked embarrassed, waved at the fans and asked them not to put him on a pedestal in front of someone who is way more powerful.
Sportspersons, the majority of them, are a superstitious lot. Rohit, at this stage of his career, when his international future beyond the ODI series in Australia in October is looking uncertain, would like to have divine blessings.
The ten-day Ganeshotsav, the biggest festival in this part of the world, is coming to an end with the Visarjan (submersion) on Saturday. This is the time when celebrities hop the happening places, with Lalbaugcha Raja being arguably the most famous.
Sachin Tendulkar offered the biggest cricketing stardust, followed by Rohit and then the likes of Ajinkya Rahane and Shreyas Iyer. Mumbai Cricket Association president Ajinkya Naik, too, went for a darshan.
No sport embraces uncertainty like cricket. Little wonder then that the majority of cricketers give Europe’s “I’m not superstitious, I have no doubt” a short shrift.
Sunil Gavaskar never looked at the scoreboard while batting. That he reached his 29th Test hundred to equal Don Bradman at Feroz Shah Kotla against the mighty West Indies was told to him by Dilip Vengsarkar, who was the non-striker. “Bloody hell, that’s your 29th,” the line was immortalised in the Little Master’s Runs ‘n Ruins.
Mohinder Amarnath used to keep a red handkerchief in his pocket. Zaheer Khan’s preferred colour for a hanky when he was playing was yellow. Recently, Shubman Gill, India’s Test captain, wore a pair of black socks against England at Headingley and nearly escaped a dress-code-violation punishment following a quick course correction.
Tendulkar always put on his left pad first. Steve Waugh believed that a ragged red rag in his pocket would bring him luck. Anil Kumble’s cap and sweater used to go to the umpire via Tendulkar. The legend didn’t allow Virender Sehwag to move during India’s chase in the 2011 World Cup final.
“I was a little superstitious because when we were playing Australia in Ahmedabad, I was not watching,” Tendulkar had said at the launch of his autobiography — Playing It My Way — with RevSportz’s Editor-in-Chief Boria Majumdar as it’s co-author.
“I would put my head down on the massage table and was being attended by the team physiotherapist. Viru had been sitting next to me. So I continued that in the World Cup final.”
Coming back to Rohit, the buzz is that he is unlikely to be part of India’s ODI set-up after the Australia series, as transition in the 50-over format would begin in earnest with an eye on the 2027 World Cup.
Then again, the players of Rohit’s calibre usually call time on their own terms. Retirement is a personal decision and the way the 38-year-old has been training at the moment, it doesn’t look like he has given up. A great series in Australia with Lord Ganesha’s blessings and then, who knows…
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