Rohit’s dismissal underlines lack of judicious shot selection
When it comes to cricket, especially batting, there is a fine line between (being called) reckless and attacking. After battling out the ‘on spot’ Australian bowlers for 19 overs, Indian opener Rohit Sharma holed out to long-leg off a dipper bowled by Nathan Lyon to walk back to the pavilion after a well compiled 44 runs.
Many called the shot irresponsible and reckless while some believe, that’s the way the Mumbaikar plays and that he shouldn’t be hauled up such a shot.
The shot, once again, drew out the tussle between the old school of cricket and one that pushes modern thoughts into an old sport. Cricket has seen many changes since the inception of the competitive part of the game began in the later part of 19th century.
From the red, we now see the game being played in white and pink colour balls and the game is played across three formats — long, short and mini.
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While Rohit’s shot was severely criticised by many people from the old school of cricketing thought, the protagonist gave himself the leeway by justifying his action.
In the post match presser, the opener said he was following a process of dominating the bowling and had no regrets in playing that shot.
In his words, Rohit stated: “It is something I like to do. I like to put the pressure on the bowler once I am in, and that is my role in the team. To make sure I keep putting that pressure on the bowlers because we have seen throughout the series how run-scoring has been difficult for both the teams.”
As an old schooler who loves the way modern cricket is shaping, particularly from an improvement in the skill sets and providing entertainment point of view, one feels that neoprocesses such as those followed by Rohit, need a major overhaul. For starters, was Rohit being dominated by Lyon to make him play a shot to reverse the situation? The bowler was in his initial sages and had been dispatched by Rohit for a classy boundary and wasn’t hemmed in by dot balls or any other pressure.
If he were to hark back to his return-to-Test-cricket match at Sydney a week ago, he will see how the team slid to a total of 244 runs after he had given them a start of 70 runs. I’m sure the thought never came into his mind of building his and the team’s total with a bit of planning and judicious shot selection. Words like ‘process of dominating the bowling’ and putting emphasis on the ‘role he is meant to play’ in the team while justifying a terrible shot reeks of an ego, fuelled with false sense of selfappraisal.
In the 20 Test matches that Rohit has played abroad, his average of
27.58 belies his total average of 46.18, clearly showing he has struggled in foreign climes.
The moniker of being a ‘short format, white ball’ specialist has stuck on his famed shoulders thanks to his performance abroad and this was the best opportunity for him to make up.
Coming in to chase a solid Australian total of
369 runs, Rohit had done all the hard work of seeing-off the new ball and looked like he would slap the doubting Thomases till he gave it all away.
From the dug out, Rohit has watched two complete greenhorns take on the might of the Aussies in their stronghold.
Debutant Washington Sundar and Shardul Thakur (batting for the second time in Tests) showed awesome resilience by playing according to the situation and nullifying the advantage that the Aussies had gained in the ongoing Test, with a 123 run stand. In the team’s scheme, the roles of Thakur and Sundar, who average 16 and 31.29 in first class cricket, were to do with the ball. The duo took the fight right to the Aussies and demystified the ‘Gabba’ factor by their attitude.
The defiance shown by Hanuma Vihari and
Ravichandran Ashwin in the Sydney Test is raved about as the duo made the (almost) impossible happen by playing a role which was well above their pay grade.
They too followed a ‘process’, one of patience and constraint and weathered nasty deliveries and nastier comments, to ensure that they kept the series alive with a draw, which must have inspired Thakur and Sundar.
While Rohit’s opinion of playing a certain attacking role in the team’s overall strategy is understandable, playing according to the situation and judiciousness when it comes to shot selection is what Test cricket is all about. The sooner the ‘Hit Man’ realises it the better, or he will continue to be called a white ball home tiger.