Cricket maybe a gentleman's game but it can be cruel, too. Almost a month ago, on December 13, 2017, in Mohali, Rohit Sharma notched up his third ODI double hundred. Nine days later, on December 22, 2017, he scored his second Twenty20 International century in Indore. The crowd went delirious—he could do no wrong, it seemed. Until January 5 and 13, when the number one ranked Test team lost to South Africa in Cape Town and Centurion, and, consequently, lost the three-match Freedom Series.
India captain Virat Kohli confirmed that his stand-in captain in short formats was chosen to play in South Africa on basis of his current form. “Rohit has scored runs in last three Test matches (against Sri Lanka) and he was batting well. We did the same thing in the past with Shikhar Dhawan as well,” said the skipper in Cape Town.
Sharma's inclusion in the playing XI ahead of Ajinkya Rahane has been a subject of much debate and heartburn during the ongoing Test series between India and South Africa. Having gone in with five bowlers, the onus was always going to be on the top five batsmen to deliver. All barring Kohli failed. In Rohit's case, it came at a high cost of a proven player—Rahane—whose away record was done in by poor “current form”.
Kohli backed the Mumbai batsman despite criticism from all quarters. Sharma scored 11, 10, 10 and 47 in the four innings of the two Test matches he played. He was not the only batsman who failed but his Test credentials were questioned with renewed vigour. It wasn't simply about the lack of runs or “intent” in his case, it was the manner in which the dismissals came—leg-before-wicket to Kagiso Rabada and clean bowled by Vernon Philander in Cape Town, leg-before-wicket to Rabada and a mistimed hook caught at fine leg by AB de Villiers off Rabada in Centurion. He never really “looked the part”, if one may say so. Stuck in the crease, with lack of foot movement and no prior experience of batting in seaming conditions with the team in a difficult situation, Sharma cut a sorry figure.
Former Australian cricket legend Dean Jones believes that Sharma had got his chance in Test cricket and he failed to cash in on it. Speaking to THE WEEK, Jones said, “Sometimes you need to have these tours to sort actual players out. So, maybe, [there is] too much dependence on his ODI form. (If) he misses out, Ravi [Shastri] and Virat can tell him, 'look we gave you the opportunity, you missed out. Now it's time to give other boys the chance'.”
On Sharma's technical inadequacies that came to fore in the first Two Tests, Jones minced no words, saying that unless you have a tight defence in Test cricket, a batsman is bound to fail more than succeed. “The first thing that goes wrong in Test cricket is your defence, and his defensive skills are letting him down. In Test cricket, 70 per cent of your game in batting is defensive skills. In ODI, it is 40 per cent,” he said.
“It is a matter of sitting down, taking pride in his defensive skills like Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Dravid and Kohli,” Jones said.
It remains to be seen whether skipper Kohli and coach Shastri will persist with Rohit in the third Test in Johannesburg, where the Wanderers wicket is expected to have grass on it and aid good pace and bounce. As things stand, it is back to the Rohit versus Rahane debate for Team India and Sharma himself.
