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Follow UsYou know something is fundamentally wrong when the most assured batter of the side in the entire tour has to make way for the most struggling batter of your side, or at least concede the spot that he had been doing so well at. That KL Rahul has been used as the biggest guinea pig in Indian cricket in the last six years is not news anymore, but it would have taken a really damning conversation within the dressing room to spur that change.
But once it did, you’d have expected the move to bear some result. But instead, the Indian skipper played a compulsive pull on a nothing delivery to be dismissed for just 3. That too on a flat MCG deck where even Pat Cummins blazed his way to 49 off 63 deliveries.
To put things into context, Rohit Sharma has just scored 22 runs in four innings at an average of 5.5 in the ongoing tour. He has barely survived 17 deliveries in an innings. Extending the search to the entire season, Rohit’s average stands at 11.07 with only one fifty in 14 innings despite playing five Tests at home.
Is this time for a reality check? The way this Test is currently positioned, it would take a huge effort on India’s part to salvage the game, but it should be enough for the Indian skipper to leave the format for good.
He is already nearing 38 and with a new Test cycle starting in six months of time, he would be in no shape to contribute the way he would have liked. Hence, it would be surprising if he doesn’t announce his retirement ahead of the SCG Test or bow out from MCG like a certain Indian skipper had done 10 years ago at the same venue.
It is not just a matter of isolation but a trend that’s keeping him tied down for the last 20 Tests. Barring that knock against Australia in Nagpur (120) and one century against West Indies in Dominica (103), Rohit’s returns as an opener have been extremely middling since 2022. This is at a time when Rahul had shown terrific consistency in negotiating and scoring in difficult conditions. And yet, he was the first one to be benched every time the question about combination came up.
For the better part of 2021 and 2022, Rohit did well managing in difficult conditions in England. His 127 at The Oval or 83 at Lord’s was instrumental in India almost winning the Test series. His promotion to the top of the order was one of the masterstrokes of the Kohli-Shastri era, yet it has become a major cause of concern in Indian cricket.
It’s the rule of the jungle to pass on the baton when you should, instead of the card being forced out of your hand. It was brave of Rohit Sharma to admit that Ashwin’s decision to retire from international cricket had a hint of management’s plans going forward, and it’d be a majestic decision on his part to have a sense of honesty about his own performances.
Despite a less-than-fulfilling career in Test cricket, Rohit is a titan of Indian cricket. And he’ll always remain one. But unless you’re going to be honest about your position in the ecosystem, a fall is the only way to go.
