Prior to Rohit’s immediate tasks on hand in limited overs, I had written his top priorities in test cricket. Please go through that one too.
The main challenge is mental toughness
The Indian white ball cricket is not that settled. Make no mistake. They do have the personnel for the job on hand but for some reason, the team always falls short when it comes to the big games. So many knock-out games under Kohli comes to mind. Despite dominating the league phase, the batsmen get stuck in sand and the bowlers get their radar wrong in the semis and finals. This has cost the team multiple ICC tournaments. Tournaments that they were expected to win. Especially the 2021 T20 World Cup, 2015 Champions Trophy.
They came unstuck on the big day. This is the main challenge that Rohit is faced with. He himself contributed to those shockers. I am not really sure how are the team of Rohit and Dravid going to address this problem. Perhaps a reduction in too much discussion before the knock-out games will probably work. Over analysing the opponents instead of playing to the best of the team’s ability could be the reason.
Too many players at the top of the same mould
India and especially Rohit, Dhawan, Rahul and Kohli have been slow starters. They still seem to be in the 90s mode. Keep the wickets at the top, accumulate in the middle overs and tear the opposition apart in the last 10 overs. They do not seem to have realised that the game has changed is very complexion in 10 years. England who are the trendsetters in this format, are dreaming of score above 500 whereas India is happy with middling scores of 300 in ODIs and around 160 in T20s.
Bats have got heavier and batsmen have become adept at chasing that a runrate of 7 does not fluster them anymore. Rohit must transform the way India bat during the start of the innings. There are sufficient dashers in Rohit himself, Ishan and Dhawan followed by Pant, Surya, Shreyas, Kohli, Jadeja and the rest. This calls for a remarkable mindset transformation. Will Rohit be able to effect that change?
The dreaded middle order
Kohli and Shastri spent a very large part of the tenure in searching for the perfect number 4. Needless to say, the failed miserably in their quest. As luck would have it, Rohit now has a variety of middle order hitters in Shreyas, Rahul & Surya. All of them are capable of staying at the wicket and scoring runs at the sametime. It is for Rohit to choose the proper middle order. I would say Kohli, Surya and Rahul to be the ideal middle order with Shreyas as the backup.
The all-rounder role
Ever since the decline or the lack of interest on the part of Hardik, Indian cricket is struggling to find a late order dasher. Looks like with Venkatesh Iyer, Hooda, Deepak Chahar and Shardul, that problem is likely to be solved. How Rohit uses these players remains to be seen.
The problematic bowling
Bowling is likely to be Rohit’s biggest problem. Except for Bumrah, none of the rest is capable of picking up wickets as well as contain the flow of runs. As a result, the batsmen are always under pressure to score quickly because they do not know how many is too many. Jadeja for all his quick scoring abilities, is not a reliable bowler. If the pitch is flat, Jadeja is likely to go for plenty. Having said that, he walks in on the basis of his hitting capability and his supreme fielding. Kumar has suddenly lost a lot of potency. Perhaps lack of match practice has affected his bowling.
Remember, Ranji trophy wasn’t played last year and as such the fringe players lost out of some much needed game time. The BCCI will do well to send a second Indian team to tour countries like Sri Lanka, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, Zimbabwe for series of ODIs and T20s. This must happen regularly. Last year, a second Indian team participated in a series in Sri Lanka. It proved to be a success. India won the ODI series and could have easily won the T20 series as well if not for mass Covid infection. It will ensure that the players are sufficiently match fit. They can come into the main team incase of an emergency and will be able to perform straightaway.
2022 T20 World Cup
Australian wickets in the T20 World Cup is likely to be flat. As such the bowlers are expected to go for plenty. It needs bowlers with the X factor. Kuldeep and Chahal who formed a potent attack till the 2019 World Cup as back in the squad. They have certainly lost their effectiveness over the last 2 years. When in form, they are a deadly pair. The Australian grounds a fairly huge and spinners will be helpful but they will have to be good. How Rohit is able to inspire the likes of Chahal or Kuldeep or Bishnoi will be interesting to watch.
Conclusion to Rohit’s immediate tasks on hand in limited overs
This country is longing for an ICC trophy over the last 11 years. The Indian fans have had multiple heartbreaks and have placed a lot of faith on the new captain. Primarily because he had won 2 tournaments leading a second string Indian team and has also won multiple IPL trophies. The Indians believe that Rohit has a magic wand. If he can deliver 2 World Cups in the next 2 years, his name will be etched in the annals of Indian cricket forever. Ofcourse, before that he has the all important final test against England. All in all, Rohit has a few golden opportunities to establish himself as the captain who won a series in England and who has won a couple of ICC tournaments.
What do you think are Rohit’s immediate tasks on hand? Do you think Rohit has the necessary tactical acumen to bring home certain ICC trophies?