Rohit Sharma, the new Indian captain, has his task cut-out. There are quite a few things that he must take care of that will perhaps define his captaincy. I feel that these are Rohit’s immediate tasks on hand. I will begin with tests and then will move onto white ball cricket in a different blog.
A reliable opening partner
There are multiple contenders to partner Rohit at the top. Mayank Agarwal, Rahul & Shubnam Gill. While choosing his partner, Rohit must ensure that he is someone who will be able to perform in all conditions. Mayank’s record in India is fabulous. It will be hard to look beyond him. However, his performances outside of India, especially in Australia & South Africa, is abysmal. He had a decent debut series in Australia but after that, he was found wanting. Repeatedly getting out for low scores. For an opener, to fall for low scores consistently, it puts lot of pressure on the middle order.
Rahul is someone who is not a natural opener. He struggles when he opens the innings. Yes, I do realise that he has opened for Karnataka for a longtime before making his debut. However, Ranji bowling attacks and international bowling attacks are completely different. For some reason, Rahul struggles whenever he opens for India. Be it tests or ODIs or even T20s. He becomes too defensive and forgets to score runs. A la Pujara.
He seems to forget that at the end, cricket is a simple game of runs and wickets. The same Rahul, when he is in the middle order is a different beast though his test credentials are yet to be tested. I do agree that in the recent past, he has scored 2 hundreds, in England and in South Africa. Apart from a couple of 50s, he does not have anything to show for. Rohit played beautifully that eased the pressure on Rahul in England. In the absence of Rohit in South Africa, Rahul too struggled. I certainly do not think that Rahul belongs at the top.
My vote goes to Shubnam Gill
That leaves us with Shubnam Gill. Prithvi Shaw has lost his way. He is struggling in Ranji as well. Gill seems to be a fine prospect. He is calm at the crease and has all the shots, both against pace and spin. Though his credentials is yet to be proven in the swinging conditions of England, Gill will hold himself well in other countries. He is easy on the eye. He had a wonderful start in Australia and with Pant, played a series winning innings at The Gabba. The one criticism on him is that he is unable to convert the starts into a big one. He is young and must be the one to open with Rohit. With Sri Lanka’s attack lacking quality, Gill will have all the time to score that elusive hundred. You never know, it might just be the boost hat Gill needs.
A good middle order
India is sure to go in with just 5 specialist batters. Rohit, another opener and Kohli are certainties. However, couple of replacements for Pujara and Rahane must be found. Shreyas Iyer, after his exploits against New Zealand walks in for Rahane. Vihari is the like for like replacement for Pujara. However, if Rohit and Dravid are tempted to play Rahul and Mayank, it is likely that Rahul will replace Pujara. It will be a hard blow for Vihari who has performed reasonably well in his career so far. If given proper backing, Vihari has all the capabilities of not only fulfilling Pujara’s position but to actually go beyond that. He has the technique to survive in all the conditions.
Rejuvenate Bumrah
For some reason, Bumrah seems to have lost his venom. His inability to win the games in South Africa, against a set of inexperienced batsmen and in helpful conditions will rankle Bumrah forever. India missed a golden opportunity to win their first series in South Africa for which Bumrah must share a greater part of the blame. Not just he didn’t pick up wickets, he went for more runs than ever. He has played 27 tests and is yet to take a 10-wicket haul. It clearly shows that Bumrah does not really run through sides. It is something great bowlers are often expected to do. He is happy with the odd breakthrough.
Bumrah is India’s trump card. With him being appointed the vice-captain, the chances are that he will not be able to skip games in India and as such, his workload is bound to increase. It is upto Rohit and Dravid to rejuvenate Bumrah and make him a potent force. Something he threatened when he made his debut.
Rohit is also the captain of Mumbai Indians of which Bumrah is a part. Now that Rohit is the captain, will he feel the need to protect Bumrah during IPL?
There is the other problem of the rest of the attack losing its potency if Bumrah is neutralised. In Asia, Ashwin and Jadeja will take care but it is outside of Asia that this becomes a problem. Ishant Sharma is a spent force. Umesh Yadav has been playing for so long and he is yet to turn potential into performance. He may go the way of Ishant. Perhaps a complete year in England will do him a world of good. Now that he is not part of any IPL team, 4 months of county cricket will make him realise his potential.
Conclusion to Rohit’s immediate tasks on hand
Rohit has got a few decisions to take. He must not only look at the short term but he must think long term. There is the small matter of winning the test series in England where the 5th test will be played. England is expected to have the services of Stone and Archer and will be much more potent. India will not have any practice games. Rohit will be remembered in the history books if he manages to win the England series.