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Follow UsLet’s start this with 2019. Rohit Sharma got his nth life in Test cricket. The idea was that he may replicate his white-ball resurgence as an opener in red-ball cricket. That was also the only spot available in the XI with KL Rahul omitted from India’s previous Test assignment in the West Indies. And the temptation to make Rohit work in Test cricket was eternal.
32 years old then, Rohit cracked the challenge like an overqualified candidate at a job interview. In his debut as an opener, he mustered two hundreds with quite an ease. Moreover, one could see the hunger in his eyes and approach. Only once in the three-match series Rohit had a strike rate greater than 40 after the first 30 balls.
The Mumbaikar focussed on batting long. So much so, that he put on a masterclass of opening the innings in England in 2021. In one of the toughest countries for Test openers, Rohit had a ball-per-dismissal ratio of 123.7 and was the top run-scorer for India.
“The most pleasing thing was that I was able to play 250 balls,” he said after his 127 off 256 balls at the Oval. Between 2019 and 2021, when Rohit sealed his spot as India’s first-choice opener, he had the best ball-per-dismissal ratio for a Test opener with a minimum of 10 matches. And his innate brilliance against spin meant he was neutralizing both pace and spin.
But since 2022, Rohit’s priorities have changed. There has been a drastic dip in his numbers — average, balls per dismissal, balls left alone and the first 30-ball metrics. The attacking shot percentage has increased from approximately 23% to 27%. It is a small change but highly significant given the 4% increase that has come despite him batting much fewer balls per innings, i.e., without getting his eye in.
Rohit’s balls-per-dismissal ratio now falls fifth from below among the 18 openers with 10 Tests or more since 2022.
The numbers in 2024, in particular, raise concerns. He started the year on a good note, smashing two hundreds against England in a crucial five-match Test series. However, the recently concluded home season was forgettable, where he averaged 13.3 runs and 17.7 balls per dismissal.
Seven of these 10 dismissals came while defending the ball. But just go back to Rohit’s dismissal in the first innings of the Bengaluru Test when India were bowled out for 46.
Under heavy cloud cover, Rohit tried to shift the pressure rather than absorbing it by charging Tim Southee down the track. Instead, he was cleaned up through the gate and was the first batter out. Similarly, chasing 147 in Mumbai, he was out trying to pull a good length ball from Matt Henry. In an innings where spinners took nine wickets, Henry was brought only to bowl at Rohit, and the seamer's celebration suggested that it was a plan to lure the right-hander into playing an attacking stroke too soon in the innings.
The change in Rohit’s tempo began chiefly in 2023, the year of the ODI World Cup, where he took the onus of scoring impactful runs in the powerplay at the cost of risking his wicket. That approach, sparking a debate under the name of ‘intent’, seeped into his red-ball game, a format where big runs are more vital than impactful runs, especially for opening batters.
It is a classic trade-off in a similar ilk with the all-rounders where one facet of the game goes up at the cost of the other. In Rohit’s case, the success he has had in white-ball cricket with this approach has coaxed him to believe more in aggression than defence, which is quite contrary to the Rohit Sharma of 2019-21.
“The one thing that Rohit Sharma is not doing, which he did very well when took up his role as an opener, is trust his technique,” Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz after India were blanked 0-3 by the Kiwis.
Rohit has also been challenged on his defense early on by seamers. 57.7% of the deliveries Rohit has faced early on (first 30 balls) from pace have been in good length area, accounting for all his six dismissals against pace in the last five Tests.
Compare it to his numbers in his golden period. Between 2019 and 2021, Rohit faced 53.9% of deliveries from pace in the good length area but got dismissed only once.
Is Rohit’s defense also waning down with the age factor catching up? He was 32 and 34 at either end of his peak as a Test batter and is 37 now. The dismissals against Bangladesh in Chennai may well have further pushed him to pursue aggression over defense in the following Tests.
Whatever the case, the Aussies now have a blueprint for bowling against Rohit in the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy — good length deliveries close to his body with a little margin on the shorter side to make him err on his strength, i.e. the pull shot, as Henry showcased in Mumbai. And with the Aussie pitches spicing up again, Rohit has quite a task at hand.
The fact that he will be arriving mid-series further adds to the challenge, as he will have little time to settle in with the added burden of captaincy.
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