Has the time come for India to move on from Rohit Sharma? An argument and counter-argument

On day one of the Nagpur Test, India were struggling at 115/4 on a rank turner after winning the toss, when Rohit Sharma walked in to bat. It was a slightly unfair situation, given the pitch conditions. He was, after all, the standout batsman in the T20I and ODI series, but sat out the first two Tests.

Despite scores of 106, 150 and 65, Rohit couldn’t find a spot in the playing 11 at Mohali and Bengaluru. He went back to play in the Ranji Trophy, and smacked 113 runs against Uttar Pradesh. Quite clearly, he was in good touch, and with turning wickets aplenty, it made for some wonder if India should have been playing six batsmen all along.

When they finally hit that combination, Rohit looked befuddled on a raging turner. While he scored only two runs in that first innings in Nagpur, his 39-ball 23 runs in the second helped India recover from a precarious situation. Six batsmen were picked in the last Test at Delhi again, with the series standing at 2-0. This was the cue for Rohit to make it count, when he walked in at 136/4, again on day one.

Instead, he holed out to mid-on, with 20 minutes to go before tea. He had faced six balls, was dropped off the fifth one he faced, and the very next ball, heaved it straight to the fielder. It was a shot that defied belief. In the second innings, Rohit’s exasperation was complete when he was bowled off a Morne Morkel beauty; first-ball after being sent in to bat at number three.

It should have been an international home season of celebration for Rohit, given how well he had started. Yet, with the jersey colour changing from blue to white, it was a cause for misery once again. With scores of 2, 23, 0 and 1, after the Kotla Test, there remained only one question to be asked: What next for Rohit Sharma?

The argument for Rohit

“There are certain times, wherein some players do take time to blossom. Best thing about Sri Lankan cricket is how they persisted with Marvan Atapattu and Kumar Sangakkara. Because, they stuck with them for long periods, they served the country for long with great distinction. Patience has to be shown with players as they are bound to deliver for the team,” said India’s assistant coach Sanjay Bangar, in a bid to defend the horrific shot Rohit played in the first innings.

His words are quite a direct pointer to how Rohit is viewed in the dressing room. The team management is clearly not ready to give up on the Mumbai batsman, who has done very well in the shorter formats, but has failed to replicate the same success in the longer one.

By now the statistics and his run of form – both home and away – has become clichéd. So the question to ask is, how is he still retaining the faith of the team management, despite repeated failures?

“He hasn’t really got to play lot many Test matches in a row. That always plays in the mind as far as a batsman is concerned. Give him successive opportunities and then assess him. Whatever he has done in longer format, he would definitely want to do more,” said Bangar.

His first sentence above highlights the problem. With the five-bowler theory in place, Rohit has not been given a fixed position in the eleven. In Australia, he had batted at number three in Sydney, and again in Bangladesh. He was persisted at the same position in Galle, and then shifted down the order to number five when the move didn’t seem to be working.

Three Tests was all the time Rohit was afforded in his new role, and that was unfair on him, particularly since he was not dropped afterwards but demoted once again. Why wasn’t he allowed to bat through the Lankan series at number three, instead? Wouldn’t a continued run at a top-order spot helped decide his fate one way or the other? And what made him a suitable choice for number five then, after a poor run at number three?

It shows the muddled thinking of the team management regarding the question about Rohit. They want him to succeed, for he is clearly an asset when on song. Yet, the batsman isn’t helping himself with atrocious shots time and again. Afterwards, the discontinuity in his number of Tests played becomes a true-but-convenient excuse in his defence.

The argument against Rohit

In a pre-season chat with this writer, Rohit had claimed to be ‘aware of the expectations from him’, and that he ‘needed to do more in the longer format’ to be able to justify selection continuously. Essentially, a player knowing the effort that is required from him is a good thing.

In the same interview however, he also spoke about the need to play big shots, and not restrict his natural game. Rohit said ‘he doesn’t regret getting out cheaply for that will happen from time to time’. It is quite a contrast from his aforementioned realisations, for this thinking might precisely be what is hurting him the most.

Take the Kotla first innings, for example. He decided to go for the big one, perhaps trying to break the shackles, but it didn’t work out. It ended up hurting his position in the squad. Will he be able to take action on this? Or, will he shrug it off as another low score that ‘happens from time to time’? If so, his temperament comes into question, for this has now become a regular mode of dismissal for Rohit.

There comes a time when the selectors have to sit down and wonder. How much time is needed for Rohit to understand that going for the big shots makes more sense when he is well set on a turning track, rather than when he has just been given a life off the previous delivery?

Or, perhaps, the selectors are already wondering this, and thinking that there might be someone else out there who could the requisite job. Say, Shreyas Iyer (930 runs in 8 Ranji matches this season). With the five-bowler theory now in prominence, the sixth batsman only needs to come in occasionally and make an impact. What’s to say that the in-form Iyer can’t do a better job than Rohit? It is a tempting though from a selection point of view, but India don’t play Tests for some time now.

And this break might afford the beleaguered batsman some breathing space, once again. Even so, it could be the last window of respite for him, for Indian cricket is quickly hurtling towards a time when it might start looking beyond Rohit Sharma.