“Rohit Sharma has been exceptional in this World Cup,” said Michael Clarke, who led Australia to glory in 2015. “He has always been a great batsman. But what he has done here is that he has been completely selfless. Time and again he has taken calls that may not be in his interest as an opening batter, but in the interest of his team. He is playing a high-risk game. There is always a chance against him the way he is approaching his batting. But that’s greatness. To have the confidence of pulling it off time and again. Against New Zealand Rohit just needed two balls to assess the wicket. Not two overs, but two balls. And then India was 10 for none in one over. That’s where he takes control and is setting things up for Virat and the others to follow.”
The key to understanding Rohit Sharma in this World Cup is that one word – selfless. And that’s where he draws on the three past captains who have taken India to a World Cup final.
In 1983, Kapil Dev’s team went into the cup as rank outsiders. And be it the game against Zimbabwe or against Australia where he picked 5-43, Kapil was moulding a team out of nothing. India did not have ODI pedigree then. A few stray wins yes, but no pedigree. Kapil earned India that status and did so by getting the boys together. Sunil Gavaskar was his senior and a huge star. Mohinder Amarnath had debuted a decade earlier than Kapil paaji. And yet, none of this mattered. He got everyone together for a cause – instilled belief and created magic. While Rohit’s side had pedigree, it was lacking the X-factor in white-ball cricket. In the T20 World Cup in Australia last year India looked timid. They weren’t fearless at any point. And that’s what has changed. Much like Kapil against Zimbabwe in 1983, Rohit has been fearless and that’s evident in the way the team has approached the tournament.
In 2003, the second time India made a World Cup final, Sourav Ganguly was able to give his young guns a voice. Zaheer Khan bowled like a champion while Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag would swear by the captain. While Sachin Tendulkar was the talisman, these young men under Ganguly stood up when it mattered the most in South Africa. Rohit has had a similar impact. Be it Shubman Gill with the bat or Mohammed Siraj and Kuldeep Yadav with the ball, each one of his teammates swear by the captain.
In Rohit’s words, “You can’t lead a cricket team in isolation. You have to understand and talk to each and every player in your team to know what they are thinking and how they are approaching the game. You have to make sure that they buy into your strand of thinking for only then can a successful cricket team get created.”
He thereafter went on to highlight how things had changed over time as captain. “With time, you tend to realise that as the leader you are the least important member of the team,” he said. “That’s how I now think for, if I have to take the team forward, I can’t do so myself without the support of the boys. That’s why I think that I am the last member of the squad and the other ten are more important than me. In this way, I can get the best out of each of them.”
Finally, I do see a touch of MS Dhoni in Rohit’s captaincy. Dhoni went to Joginder Sharma in 2007 in one of the most debated calls in cricket history. It paid off and India won the inaugural T20 World Cup. In 2011, Dhoni promoted himself ahead of the in-form Yuvraj Singh, player of the tournament, in the final and the rest is history. It was a high-risk call fraught with the chance of failure. And yet, he went ahead and embraced the occasion. Rohit, batting the way he is, has done his own Dhoni equivalent. It is his batting at the top of the order that has set the tone time and again. And like Dhoni, Rohit has the self-confidence to pull it off time and again. Be it his backing of KL Rahul or Shreyas Iyer, his support for Kuldeep Yadav or in his attacking approach from ball one, Rohit in 2023 is actually a combination of the three who have helped make history for India in World Cups – Kapil, Ganguly and Dhoni.
Kapil and Dhoni went the distance, and that’s what India wants to see Rohit do on Sunday. With a team that is perhaps better than any other that has played World Cups for India, Rohit has a huge chance to make history. Only then will all the runs he has made have any real meaning for him. It is all for a cause. Winning the World Cup. Rohit is captain and leader. Selfless and proactive.