Rohit breaks out of comfort zone again to let Rahul flourish, but India captain’s sacrifice more than what meets the eye
Now that the call has been made, Rohit will need to recalibrate his mindset, more than his technique, which in any case has undergone a subtle change.
It’s been six years, 27 matches and 64 innings since Rohit Sharma did not open the batting in Test cricket. The last time he was in the middle order was at the MCG in the Boxing Day Test of 2018, when he made scores of 63 not out and five in a comprehensive Indian victory.
Had he so desired, Rohit could so easily have extended that sequence, but putting the team’s interests ahead of himself, the Indian captain has decided to cede his opener’s slot to KL Rahul in deference to the latter’s exceptional displays in both innings of the Perth Test and to his 201-run stand in the second innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rohit’s opening partner since July last year.
It wasn’t hard to see this decision coming. Rohit watched on television back in his Mumbai home how brilliantly Rahul batted in both innings. It is impossible that the skipper’s mind wouldn’t have flitted back to 2021, when he and Rahul frustrated England’s pace bowlers with one meaningful opening stand after another to help India secure a 2-1 lead before the final Test was postponed due to a Covid outbreak.
Rohit is a firm believer in setting the tone for his team and leading from the front. He laid the base during both limited-overs World Cups split by seven months, teeing off in the Powerplay and unwilling to let up even when he had got a start because he wasn’t after easy runs, he was after bruising runs. In his head, he must have believed that despite his poor returns in the last three months – his last ten Test innings have produced a mere 133 runs with a highest of 52 – it was incumbent upon him to again lay the foundation, but putting personal interests and any potential ego aside, he has opted to drop down to the middle order, where he made his debut more than 11 years back.
On Wednesday, when he was asked if he had been told where he would bat, Rahul had said, “I have told, yes, but I’ve also been told not to share it.” The captain was a lot more forthcoming 24 hours later. "He'll be opening the batting; I'll bat somewhere in the middle," Rohit said with a smile, aware that it was the answer to this question that India’s followers had been waiting for with bated breath for the last week and more.
Explaining how he arrived at the decision, Rohit remarked, “Clearly, we want results, we want success, and those two guys at the top, just looking at this one Test match, they batted brilliantly. I was at home with my new-born in my arms and I was watching how KL batted. It was brilliant to watch and I felt there was no need to change that (combination). Maybe in the future, things will be different, I don't know. Based on what has happened and what KL has shown outside of India, he probably deserves (opening the bating). It is something that has given us success; in the first Test, to have that big partnership with Jaiswal, that probably won us the Test match. When you come to a place like Perth and get (a lead of) 500 runs, it's a massive tick in the box. We didn’t need to change that; what I saw from the outside looked brilliant. It was actually pretty simple for me (to make the call). Personally, it was not easy but for the team, yeah, it made a lot of sense.”
Changes Rohit needs to make to justify his sacrifice
Now that the call has been made, Rohit will need to recalibrate his mindset, more than his technique, which in any case has undergone a subtle change. With his right foot parallel to the stumps but plonked on the batting crease and the left leg slightly opened up, Rohit has developed a half-step back-and-across trigger movement on which he worked assiduously at the nets at the Adelaide Oval. By Thursday afternoon, that had become almost second nature. There was no longer a conscious effort to follow that routine or ask any of the support staff to keep a close watch.
They say it’s a lot easier to drop down the order than go in the other direction in Test cricket. The challenges that confront an opener are manifold, but the dynamics of batting lower down could change in a day-night Test, especially if one walks in under artificial lights when the pink ball jags around considerably. If that is the case, Rohit is the ideal candidate to bat at No. 5 (currently occupied by Rishabh Pant) or No. 6 since his grounding as an opener will come in most useful. Win-win in theory from all perspectives, but how it will pan out in reality remains to be seen.
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