Rohit Sharma scores a match-winning hundred against England and everyone are back to announce that he has come out of his rut and how he is going to be the pivotal around whom Indian batting will evolve in the Champions Trophy. Accolades are pouring in for Rohit for the hundred and how he made mincemeat of a middling target. The fact of the matter is that Rohit Sharma is a behemoth in ODI cricket. He made his name in the white-ball format and not in the red-ball format. The several mountains that he has scored are all a testimony to the fact how exceptional he has been in ODI cricket. Especially while playing in India. Several who called for him to be dropped are singing praises of him. Everyone must understand that Rohit the ODI batsman has gone nowhere. It is only Rohit and Test cricketer who has gone missing.
It is not that he is an exceptional batsman who could flourish at the Test level. Granted, he had a couple of fabulous years in Tests but that was the extent of his batsmanship. I have written previously that both Kohli and Rohit can play ODIs for another year and not more than that. Test cricket for them is finished. With the next series in England where both of them have struggled except for one series, at the age of 37 and 38 respectively, their eyes and reflexes will not measure upto the swing in England. Hence, ODI is where their future lies at the international level.
Rohit at the top
Rohit Sharma at the top of the order in ODI is an important cog in the wheel. There is no doubt in that. He is continuing from where he left off in the ODI World Cup. Aggression right from the beginning. He has made it a point to bat in this fashion after several tournaments during which the average score of India during the powerplay was just around 45 whereas other teams score more than 70. The several reversals during the T20 World Cups has shown the way for Rohit to bat. To his credit, he has not changed the approach even if there were some low scores along the way. His blistering start in the 2023 ODI World Cup was undone by the directionless batting of Rahul and Kohli. Not to mention the lack of contribution from Gill.
The bottomline is that when it comes to ODI cricket, Rohit still retains that swagger. He made his name in ODI and not in Test. The success at the top convinced Dhoni to try him at the top as an opener even in Tests. That move clicked for awhile with some stellar performances. There was a period when he even threatened to break the barrier of averaging more than 50 in Test cricket. It wasn’t to be.
Rohit press conference
“I really broke it down into pieces about how I wanted to bat,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation after collecting his Player-of-the-Match award. “It’s a 50-over format, a little longer than T20 format and a little shorter than Test cricket obviously – a lot shorter than Test cricket – but obviously you still need to break it down and assess what you need to do at regular intervals and that is what I kept doing. It was important for a batter who gets set, needs to bat as deep as possible and that was my focus.”
He is good enough in ODIs
The point is that in ODIs, Rohit is still good enough to represent the nation, atleast in the Asian environs. He is 38 years old but he could play ODI for another year. Whether he is among the confirmed batsmen in the 2027 World Cup remains to be seen. It could be one year too far. His form even in ODI may come down drastically from where there will be no way up. So much can go wrong and there is a lot that could be out of his control. Now, there are reports that the selectors have asked him about his future plans after the Champions Trophy.
Are the selectors and the team management thinking of a change? If so, would they want to groom someone else as the captain for the ODI World Cup and have Rohit in the team just as a batsman? Or would they want him to retire from ODI itself? We need to wait till the end of the Champions Trophy.
He has been selfless
Onething must be said. In ODI cricket and in T20 cricket, Rohit has been selfless. He could have still remained the same old Rohit who was intent on batting the entire overs and accelerate as the game goes on. From 2013, when he began to open the innings, he has scored a hundred every 5 games. That is an impressive record. He had his own method of getting in slowly and then explode in the later half. He chose the wise option of going for the jugular early on. Since February 2022, Rohit changed his mindset and was intent of belligerence at the top without worrying about landmarks. This also has some problems. He gets out for low scores and immediately after his dismissal, the innings stutters to a stop as it happened in the 2023 ODI World Cup final.
Wrapping up Rohit Sharma’s hundred
If Rohit could find a way to keep up with the present approach and also play a long innings, atleast until the 30th over, India will be on their way to winning the Champions Trophy.
Other blogs about Rohit Sharma
https://icricketcritique.com/the-hypocrite-that-is-rohit-sharma/
https://icricketcritique.com/rohit-sharmas-litmus-test-as-captain/
https://icricketcritique.com/rohit-sharmas-ridiculous-comment/
https://icricketcritique.com/should-rohit-sharma-drop-himself/
https://icricketcritique.com/gavaskar-feels-rohit-needs-to-rest/
https://icricketcritique.com/t20-rohit-and-kohli/
https://icricketcritique.com/well-said-rohit-sharma/
https://icricketcritique.com/a-tribute-to-rohit-sharma/