Rohit Sharma will begin his 'second innings' tomorrow, as he readies himself to open in the longest format of the game.
If Rohit Sharma’s career in the limited-overs is a high-flying jet at a supersonic speed, his Test career has seemingly failed to ever take-off. Rohit was never able to sustain his place in the Test side. In the 63 Tests India have played since his debut in 2013, Rohit has appeared in only 27. He has either been inconsistent at times or just wasn’t able to break into an already established middle-order, as was evident in the recently-concluded tour to the West Indies.
The Mumbai batsman made his Test debut in the same series in which another legendary cricketer from the same city bowed out from the game. While the fans pinned their hopes on Sachin Tendulkar to retire with a hundred, it was Rohit Sharma who passed the three-figure mark in both the matches. The second one came in front of his home crowd at the iconic Wankhede Stadium.
Great things were expected from Rohit in the whites, but his 177 in Mumbai, to date, remains his highest Test score. He had to wait for four years for his next hundred in the longest format, and the magical three-figure remains untouched since. All this while, he continued to achieve new heights in ODIs, but remained in the shadows in Tests.
Rohit was left out of more Test matches than he played in the past two years. He was given the opportunity to make the number-5 spot his own in the tour to South Africa, but failed to capitalize. After being dropped for the England tour, he made a return for the four-match series down under. Rohit squandered the chance again. In four innings, he recorded one fifty, a 37, and two single-digit scores.
The chances looked bleak for a comeback in the middle-order, and vanished entirely after Hanuma Vihari shined at number 6 in West Indies. This left Rohit Sharma with only one position – the opening slot.
The persistence with Rohit Sharma in the Test matches is a dedicated attempt to push him for a role he has so brilliantly excelled in the limited-overs format. The selection of Mumbai batsman shows the team management’s strong faith in him, as there is an abundant presence of talent in India’s domestic circuit. Youngster Shubman Gill has been selected for the series against South Africa, but Chief Selector MSK Prasad has confirmed that Rohit will open.
Abhimanyu Easwaran, who was in contention for a place in the squad, has been equally brilliant. Priyank Panchal is also ringing the bells and Prithvi Shaw will also eye a comeback once the ban ends.
This, however, also suggests that Rohit Sharma has a limited period to impress the management and the selectors. And he will embark on his new journey on Thursday when Board’s President XI take on South Africans in the three-day match in Vishakapatnam. Rohit will also lead the team.
It is going to be difficult for the batsman, but Rohit is fond of challenges. We saw that much in 2013 when he readied himself for the opening slot in the Champions Trophy despite being a middle-order batsman throughout his career. At 32, time may not favour him as much as it did then, but Rohit can draw respite from the fact that he received the opportunity during the home season.
If all goes well, we will see his name as a first-choice opener when Team India embarks on the foreign tour to New Zealand in February 2020.
