It was the first time I was meeting Rohit Sharma since that fateful day in Manchester in July 2019, and it was expected that the conversation would turn to the World Cup at some point. “The five hundreds really don’t mean much anymore,” Rohit said in a very matter-of-fact manner. “Personally, it was a great achievement but when you are playing a team sport, it is never about personal milestones. When I reached home after the World Cup and everyone was congratulating me for the hundreds, I can very honestly tell you I did not feel any elation. The real prize was in the England dressing room and it was difficult to accept that we had not made the final.”
It was as if Rohit was mumbling something to himself. He seemed a little distracted, and we couldn’t make sense of what was going on. Seeing me slightly anxious, he smiled and said, “World event jeetna hai. This is one obsession we have to fulfil.”
It was a kind of self-introspection. He was speaking to himself more than he was addressing me. He was desperate to win a world event, and it was as if his legacy as a cricketer was dependant on it.
That’s what it is all about for one of the best of our era. Rohit is a leader and for someone of his calibre, it is never about individual glory. As one of the most successful captains in franchise cricket, Rohit knows how to win. For him to come close multiple times and yet not have a world title to show for in the last few years is not something he can accept. “Unless we win a world title in the next couple of years, I will be very disappointed,” he said.
To understand Rohit and what the World Test Championship (WTC) final means to him, we really need to understand the man’s mind. Only then can you make sense of some of his decisions. For example, it was an easy solution for Rohit to opt out of the 2021 Australia tour. Having won a fifth IPL title with the Mumbai Indians in November 2020, he was the toast of the nation. Having come back to India to tend to his father, who was infected with Covid in November 2020, Rohit could have decided on skipping the Australia tour, undergone a full-fledged rehab at the NCA and been ready for the England tour at home in February 2021.
It was logical to do that because a 14-day hard quarantine awaited him in Australia if he decided to travel down under in Covid times. Rohit had not travelled with the team, and that meant he would be denied the privileges offered to them. They were moving from one bio-secure bubble in the UAE to another in Sydney and, as a result, were allowed to train while serving the mandatory two weeks of quarantine.
In Rohit’s case, things were different. He would have to fly a commercial airline, and that meant he wouldn’t be allowed to train for 14 days, and be confined to a hotel room, which could impact his recovery. In contrast, rehab at the NCA was the more prudent option. Cricket in India was gradually restarting, and Rohit could be ready for Test cricket by early 2021.
That was how we tended to think. No so Rohit. “I decided to travel to Australia for that’s what I thought was right,” he said in one of our many conversations during that 14-day quarantine in Sydney. “This is very difficult, I can assure you, and I can also tell you I wouldn’t do this ever again. In fact, no one should have to go through this. It is that hard. Having said that, I am convinced I did the right thing, for my dream is to play Test cricket for India, and it is only fair that I live my dream.”
It was fair that I asked him the dreaded follow-up question. Did failure ever crop up in his mind? Was he not afraid that he would be stepping out to open the batting against the world’s best fast-bowling attack with very little preparation? He was planning to play Test cricket in Australia having not played any competitive cricket for close to two months and having served a hard 14-day quarantine. It meant he would go into the third Test at the SCG without a single tour game, and with only six days of proper training. Simply put, it was near-impossible to succeed in the circumstances. Did Rohit not think about the practicalities before he decided to take up the challenge?
And yes, I did ask him the question.
“You can’t pick and choose when it comes to playing for India,” he told me candidly. “As I said before, my dream is to play Test cricket for India and that’s what I am doing. If I fail, that’s okay with me, but not trying isn’t. That would not seem right. In the end, it is about doing things that you feel are right.”
When it comes to India, Rohit is ready to bear pain, risk failure and do all that he can to succeed. Nothing else matters, and it could well be that we see this avatar of Rohit Sharma at The Oval. From the perspective of Indian cricket, nothing could be better than such an outcome.
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