Does Rohit care about playing for the country? This is one question that I have been contemplating for quite sometime ever since it has emerged that Rohit Sharma’s name was missing from the Indian squad to Australia and his subsequent appearance in this year’s IPL. Multiple players have warned Rohit not to rush his comeback which may result in an injury must severe than the current situation. Nothing seems to bother him. He is determined to continue playing in the IPL.
Rohit Sharma injured his hamstring about 4 games before the final game for Mumbai Indians. Hamstring injuries are something that takes very long to heal properly. The players are advised to take enough rest to be able to recover a bit faster than usual. Probably Rohit Sharma was given the same advise. Some of the former players too advised Rohit to be careful about this injury. Ravi Shastri said that by playing again so soon, he runs the risk of injuring himself again. Infact, the medical report suggests the same as well.
“I have no say, neither am I a part of the selection. All I know is the medical report which says he could be in danger of injuring himself again if he is not careful,” Shastri told Times Now.
Ganguly says that Rohit was not selected only because he was injured and there is nothing else to this story
“Rohit is injured at the moment. Otherwise, why would we leave out a player like him? He is the vice-captain of the national (limited-overs) team,” Ganguly said. “We will have to assess him. I don’t know (when he can come back). He hasn’t played so far since the time he has got injured. We want him to recover.
With an important tour coming up for the Indian team and being one of the main player in the side, one would expect Rohit take all necessary precautions to make himself available for the tour. If not for the limited overs section, atleast for the test series that starts on 17 December. However, it wasn’t to be. Rohit is back in the field for Mumbai’s last game in the ongoing IPL and was promptly dismissed for a low score. He will certainly play in the play-off and if they qualify, will certainly play in the finals. I
f he is again injured, he will be ruled out for the entire tour. This brings me back to the point. Does Rohit care about playing for the country? Dilip Vengsarkar has rightly called for action to be taken against Rohit. Ofcourse, we know that the BCCI is an useless sporting body and they will let this slide by.
Mumbai players not caring enough
There are reasons why players from Mumbai are viewed with suspicion by the rest of the country. They aren’t that serious enough when they play for the country. On the otherhand, they are super motivated whenever they play for Mumbai. Sanjay Manjrekar, in his auto-biography, Imperfect, has mentioned the same. He has written that players of his era are much more motivated when they play in the Ranji Trophy rather than when they play for the country.
Their happiness when winning a Ranji Trophy is much higher than winning with the Indian team. No one who has seen that one and only famous Ranji finals between Haryana and Mumbai all those years ago will forget that game ever. Mumbai had all its international starts and Haryana had Kapil Dev. It was clear how passionate the Mumbai players were. Infact, at the end Dilip Vengsarkar was crying which I have not seen when they play for the Indian team. Is Rohit too belongs to the same category? Does he value playing for Mumbai and Mumbai Indians which is afterall a franchise in a nondescript event more than playing for the Indian national team?
Is Rohit afraid of playing tests in Australia and thereby save his career?
If the answer to the above question is no, it leads us to the next question. Is Rohit afraid of playing test cricket in Australia as an opener? Does he want to save his career by not playing in Australia? Everyone knows that Rohit Sharma has had a very long career. Inspite of that, he wasn’t always a fixture in the playing eleven when it comes to test cricket. He was played in the middle order until about a couple of years ago when he started to open the innings.
Since, then he has played some fabulous knocks including a double hundred against South Africa. His average is touching 50 at the moment. Probably, Rohit feels that if he plays in Australia where the wickets “were” known to assist fast bowlers and with Australia boasting of a good fast bowling attack and if he fails in tests, he will be permanently relegated to the sidelines when it comes to test cricket. Hence, he is afraid to play in Australia and wants to retain his place in the eleven when the home season begins.
Is Rohit Sharma the real culprit or is it the BCCI?
Who is the real culprit? Is it Rohit Sharma or the BCCI? If Rohit Sharma is really injured, how come he is playing so soon? If the only reason for not including Rohit in the tour squad is because of his injury, what about the video of Rohit practising released by Mumbai Indians? That too right after the squad was announced. All these leads us to question the BCCI. Is Rohit really injured or has he been dropped for reasons that were not revealed. Sunil Gavaskar has called for transparency in Rohit’s case
“We are talking about the Test matches, which are a month and a half way,”
And if he is practising in the nets for Mumbai Indians, then honestly I don’t know what kind of injury it is. I think a little bit of transparency, a little bit of openness about what actually is the problem with him will help everybody.”
Is there something else that is behind this entire fiasco?
Probably Rohit is not injured at all or his injury is not that serious to warrant exclusion from the Indian squad. There is something going on behind this entire story. This looks like some sort of disciplinary action. Whatever it is. The Indian cricket fans deserve to know the entire story.