It’s said that ‘a captain is good as his team’. Looking at this marauding Indian machine at the World Cup and the man at the helm, it’s tempting to say that a team is as good as its captain.
Rohit Sharma has led from the front, and by example. He has set the template and demonstrated how to implement it. His aggression has sent early shivers down opposition spines. And, like a true captain, he does not mind sacrificing himself so that his teammates could build the innings from the comfort zone of the early pace set by him.
The word sacrifice is to be taken seriously. It’s a batsman’s game and those who do this job like big scores under their belt. Rohit knows a few things about that. He holds the records for the highest ODI score, most double-hundreds and maximum centuries in a single edition of the World Cup.
This tournament has seen another incarnation. He has transformed himself into a leader of troops, who makes early inroads into opposition territory for his men to follow. In doing this, he does not mind if he becomes the first casualty. India have had some ridiculously breezy starts and Rohit has selflessly and effortlessly played the most significant hand in those.
Dancing down the track and depositing Trent Boult into the stands over extra-cover in the third over of a World Cup semi-final was sheer audacity. Forget technique and execution, it was a statement. Had he mistimed it, it could have caused calamitous headlines. Instead, it sent a message that the captain was least concerned about his own reputation. He had set a model for his team and shown how it was to be done.
There were also those chips over mid-wicket against the fast bowlers and a swat past short fine-leg off Mitchell Santner inside the power play, which were not far from the fielders. Rohit knew he was taking chances. And that is what he wanted the bowlers to be aware of.
He was doing it so that the batters after him could play themselves in, instead of being forced to step on the pedal soon after coming in. One reason why Virat Kohli could bat without the pressure to accelerate in most of the matches was the starts provided by Rohit. It was often eight per over after the first 10!
Along with a century and three half-centuries, he has four scores in the forties. That is a significant pointer to his approach and commitment to the cause. He could have converted some of these into three-figure knocks or converted some of those forties into fifties. But he did not for a second give the impression that he was playing for personal milestones. Rather, it was very evident that such numbers were the last thing on his mind. He got out playing shots.
To do it match after match and pull it off takes some doing. Rohit is fourth on the list of batters with 550 runs. He has a strike rate of above 124 and averages 55 despite not having a ‘not out’ against his name. His assault on the bowlers in the initial period and beyond has fetched 28 sixes, the most in this World Cup. His tally of 62 fours is second only to Kohli’s 64.
His selfless brand of cricket has rubbed off on his teammates. They, too, appear unafraid. They uphold the values the captain wants to propagate. They play for each other. Having taken over as captain at a tough time under controversial circumstances and struggled to put together a side due to injuries and other issues for some time, Rohit could not have timed this transformation better.