Bilateral white-ball series lacks context. In recent times, there has been very little interest in such matches because no one really cares for them anymore. With franchise leagues the future, the way ahead for bilateral cricket is clear. While the World Cups and Champions Trophies will remain significant, bilateral series will sooner than later cede ground to domestic T20 leagues. Consider the following: If the BCCI was given a choice to extend the IPL for another 15 days as against a bilateral series involving six 50 or 20-over games in the same window, what would it prefer? Would it choose 15 IPL games in 15 days or six white-ball games against one international team. The answer is a no-brainer. And it is time world cricket accepted that reality and braced itself for it.
The biggest casualty going forward has to be the bilateral format. With Test cricket still the jewel for the purist, the new-age fan would any day prefer T20 domestic leagues to international bilateral engagements. And if it’s against Afghanistan, without the star power of Rashid Khan, it is a C-grade series at best. And yet, this one isn’t. The presence of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who is available for the second and third games, has made the series highly relevant for the Indian cricket fan. As brands who drive world cricket, they will bring fans to stadiums and ensure that social media is in overdrive when the first ball is bowled. That’s what explains the ICC reaction to their selection for the T20 series. Both Kohli and Rohit are needed to market the T20 World Cup. And it is only their presence that has made the Afghanistan series relevant.
Frankly, what is of interest on Thursday night is not the result. Rather, it is how Rohit bats at the top of the order for India. Can he do what he did in the World Cup and approach the match with the same aggressive mindset? Can he bring in the same fearlessness that he had shown during the 50-over World Cup, for that’s what could work for India in the shortest format? Can he change India’s T20 template and adapt to the faster version of the game? Either way, more than the result, it is Rohit who will be the story.
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In Pics: Team India captain @ImRo45 during practice session ahead of the first T20I against Afghanistan.#INDvsAFG #RohitSharma pic.twitter.com/ski84edlj5
— RevSportz (@RevSportz) January 10, 2024
A failure and he will be questioned. What’s the point of getting him back when his T20 form has been patchy? He hasn’t played any international T20 cricket for the last 14 months and didn’t have a good IPL either. So why is he there to captain the team? And if he scores, it will be hailed as a masterstroke. The narrative will be something along the lines of his experience being what India need, and that it is only fair that he gets one final opportunity to win a world trophy as captain.
Maybe this is why cricket is the most individualistic of all team sports. The focus is on someone rather than the team as a collective. And needless to say, it is on Rohit, and only Rohit, in Mohali.
One final point before I conclude. Rohit went straight to practice on landing in Chandigarh. Clearly, he’d have given his T20 career much thought before he agreed to be a part of the series and before he made himself available. He knows what is expected of him and also knows that the fans will brook no failure. For Rohit, every T20 game that he plays between now and the T20 World Cup is a test. With millions watching, his every movement and stroke will be decoded and analysed. He will be celebrated with every good outing and castigated for every failure.
Call it pressure or call it something else, it won’t be easy for Rohit or anyone else when faced with such intense media glare. But then he is Rohit Sharma, captain of India. One of the superstars of the modern game, who is used to handling pressure. For him and Kohli, the World Cup doesn’t come every four years, it comes every day. And January 11 is no different, even if it is against Afghanistan without Rashid. And that is because Rohit will be playing against himself, and not so much against the Afghans. What do they know of cricket that only Rohit knows?
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