In the 18th over of India’s second innings of the Adelaide Test against Australia, two small events told you something about Rohit Sharma’s current mindset. He was adjudged LBW, only for the umpire to reverse the decision as Mitchell Starc had overstepped. Incidentally, Rohit had also eked out an inside edge. A couple of deliveries later, he tried an airy-fairy waft to an away-going wobble-seamer.
Just pore through the replays for those two offerings, and they suggested that Rohit was a fraction late on both occasions. An indicator that he was struggling to pick up key cues against pace bowling. He seemed lost at the crease. It didn’t take long for Pat Cummins to angle one back and then for the ball to straighten to rattle the off stump.
That particular dismissal also brought back not-so-good memories of Kagiso Rabada, James Anderson, Tim Southee, Ben Stokes and Cummins himself getting Rohit out, in similar fashion, over the last 18 months or so. As a despondent Rohit slowly trudged back to the pavilion, one wondered whether we were seeing the last bits of him in Test cricket?
The India captain is averaging just over 11 in his last six Test matches, with one fifty to his name. There have been suggestions about how Rohit can tinker with his stance and guard. But while connecting the various dots, including the pattern of his recent dismissals, it doesn’t seem to be just a case of minor flaws creeping into his game.
In this context, one can’t escape the fact that the body naturally slows down with age. It happened to even the great Sachin Tendulkar. At the fag end of his illustrious career, Tendulkar seemed a trifle late while facing a three-quarter seam delivery from Tim Southee in the Bengaluru Test, in 2012, and was castled. The instant reaction of Tendulkar, where he lifted his bat in anger, was indeed a rare sight to witness.
Rohit’s wicket in the Adelaide Test also left India precariously placed at 106 for 5 in the second innings. Although Rishabh Pant and Nitish Reddy guided India to stumps, they are still 29 runs in arrears. The duo might still pull off a heist, but it would take a brave man to bet against Australia squaring the series 1-1, going into the Gabba Test.
India would only have a few days’ time to rejuvenate themselves and start afresh in the crucial third Test, starting on December 14. More importantly, Rohit would be under tremendous pressure to rediscover his form. His lean path seems to have affected his captaincy too. If Rohit fails in the next Test as well, would it be prudent for the incumbent captain to drop himself from the side? From the team’s perspective, the answer is probably a ‘yes’. That said, the team management would most likely wait for the completion of the series to take a call.
Somewhere, in a fantasy land, you still wish for Rohit to rise like a phoenix and contribute to India’s victory. Alas, such wishes don’t always come true.