The burden of being Rohit

Pune: Typically, those who say ‘age is in the mind’ are being optimistically ignorant of a very physiological process. But, in seeing Rohit Sharma from four months ago to now, you can see that there could be an element of truth to their sentiment, even if that’s not how they meant it. 

Rohit is a 37-years-old now. Rohit was 37-years-old four months ago. But a couple of things happened in this interim. 

Four months ago, Rohit captained India to the World T20 crown in Barbados.

Three days ago, Rohit captained India to their first series loss in India in twelve years. 

At the press conference in Barbados, he, still staring at the trophy on the table, looked younger than his age would suggest. Perhaps it was lost in all those smiles he flashed. 

At the press conference in Pune, he, staring at the ground in front of him, looked much older than his age would suggest. Perhaps it revealed itself in the very evident pain he was feeling. 

But as he scratched his greying beard, looking to find the words which wouldn't result in sentences which sound like excuses, it must have no doubt occurred to him that his lack of form has played a massive role in India being subject to this humiliation. 

Sure, losing one series after every 12 years at home doesn’t suggest that the team cannot be dominant anymore, at least that’s what Rohit wants you to think, but the fact that they lost to a New Zealand side which is more professional than skilled did not go unnoticed. Moreover, they didn’t even have Kane Williamson’s services. 

India had the privilege of all their seasoned greats, and they have all failed for the last two Tests. Rohit more than the rest. The skipper has scores of 2, 52, 0 and 8 in the four innings so far. 

“In this series, what we wanted to do didn't happen due to our batters,” he said in the post-match presser, naturally including himself in the critique. “But, I can't doubt anyone's ability because everyone has a lot of ability and these guys have won all the matches that we have won in the last series so I don't want to postmortem this thing, but yes, we can see what we should do differently in such situations. All the batters should come with their own plan, all the batters should trust their plan.”

Rohit, it would seem, has trust issues with his plans for a while now. 

Rohit had scores of 6, 5, 23 and 8 against Bangladesh during the preceding two-Test series. Against England at the start of 2024, he had a couple of centuries in nine innings. Basically, 2024 hasn’t been kind to Rohit.

There is a theory which answers this run of form because it runs parallel with his dip in form. 

Rohit over the last two years has looked to reinvent his limited-overs game at the top. He was a finished product by the time the 50-over World Cup and the T20 World Cup came along, scoring at a breakneck pace after being given the license to lose his wicket for the cause. 

That ploy worked wonders because India’s approach was beginning to look and feel archaic. Plus the field restrictions allow him to stretch his hands a bit.  

In Tests too he has been given the green to go for hell, that’s the direction the team wants to go in anyway, but he doesn’t seem to be picking the right deliveries for it at the moment. 

His eagerness, combined with the management’s desire to play aggressively from the get-go, is coming in the way of Rohit letting 63 Tests worth of experience come through. 

In a team with a little more aggression than necessary, Rohit can take a step back and play a calmer role until he gets going. This one-size-has-to-fit-all mantra of aggressive batting doesn’t work, and it never will. Frankly, India might not have been here had they let individuals pick and choose their modes of operation. 

That said, this could all be in Rohit’s head, and he could be choosing to show the side the brand of cricket they should be playing. Irrespective, in this process, he is losing himself. In the process, he’s looking closer to how a player looks when his career is on its last legs.