India's captain Rohit Sharma walks off the field after losing his wicket during day three of third Test cricket match between India and New Zealand at Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024.
Credit: PTI Photo
Mumbai: On November 19, 2023, India lost in the final of the 50-over World Cup to Australia. As heart-wrenching as that evening was, Rohit Sharma was not the only Indian skipper to suffer such a fate. Sourav Ganguly had in 2003.
Misery does love company, but on November 3, 2024, Rohit wouldn’t have any such skipper of the past and their misfortunes to lean on because he became the first Indian captain to watch the side get swept 3-0 in a Test series at home.
Sachin Tendulkar was at the helm when India went down 2-0 to South Africa at home in 2000, but this was different, not only because of the fact that they lost one more Test but also the way in which New Zealand beat them at their own game, in their own home.
Rohit entered the post-match presser looking as disheartened as you would expect and took the blame for what is the most forgettable set of matches India have ever played at home. And to think he lifted the T20 World Cup only a few months ago.
"Yeah, it is quite tough, and it tells you nothing is easy in life,” he stated when asked about the highs and lows of cricket. “One day you're on high, one day you're not. That is something I learned at a very young age about life, but this will be a very low point in my career. I fully take responsibility for that as a captain and as a leader as well. I have not been at the best of my abilities right from the start of the series. With the bat, I have not been good enough.”
Refreshing as the Mumbaikar’s new-found forthrightness is, it didn’t help alleviate the mood in the conference room for there were still many questions to be asked, chief of which was the team’s abysmal shot selection in pursuit of 147 on Sunday.
“It (shot selection) wasn’t up to the mark, starting from me, but when you are chasing a target like that, you want to try and put the pressure on the bowlers. You can't allow bowlers to bowl on one particular slot. You have to try and do something about it. I played a bad shot, yes, but I don't regret it because that (the pull) has given me a lot of success in the past so I will continue to do that.”
"I accept the fact that we were not good enough with the bat in the entire series. Even now, I thought 147 could be chased, but we were just not good enough with the bat. We didn't apply ourselves. There were a lot of mistakes that we made.”
Rohit once again admitted that his call to bat first in Bengaluru was a bad one, but revealed that he had made many tactical errors in this game and that he would be introspecting in time to come.
“I made certain tactical errors in this series, and those decisions didn’t go my way. You obviously take chances with those decisions. Sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn't. This time it didn't come off. I was not at my best of my leadership and probably cost us the series as well.”
Probably, but scoring 91 runs in three Tests at an average of 15.16 didn’t help, and neither did Virat Kohli’s tally of 93 in the same number of games at an average of 15.50.
“Obviously, it's a cause of concern,” Rohit said when asked about the form of the seniors in the side. “If the batters are not performing, that is a cause of concern, but what's done is done now. As a player, as a captain, as the team, we all have to look forward and see how we can correct this.”
Maybe there is a solution, maybe there isn’t. One way or the other we will find out what this team is made of when they fly to Australia for a five-Test series with the ghost of this loss hovering overhead.
Rohit to skip Perth opener?
Rohit Sharma was non-committal about his availability for the first Test of the five-match Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth. Former Tamil Nadu batter Abhinav Mukund, currently a presenter, revealed on Jio that Rohit could miss the first Test for the birth of his second child.
When Rohit was posed the question about the November 22-27 game during the post-series presser (an intense one in the aftermath of their 3-0 sweep to New Zealand at home) he said: “I am not too sure about Perth, but fingers crossed.”