CHENNAI: When Rohit Sharma was given the keys to India's cricketing kingdom following a below-par 2021 T20 World Cup campaign, it came with a significant caveat. Make them a serial (and a serious) winning machine at ICC events. Everything else could take a back seat. Sharma was identified as the man for this particular mission for multiple reasons but his successes with Mumbai Indians carried significant heft. You get all the resources, no questions asked. Give us the trophies those resources demand. You may be richer than God but if there's nothing to show for those riches, what's the point of all those riches in the first place?
So, the opener, the owner of more daddies in world cricket in the 50-over format than any other batter, decided to change. His very precise style of leadership is all about clear communication, 4K clarity and more importantly, getting everyone onside with his vision. Henri Fayol, one of the fathers of management, put forth the value of esprit de corps (team spirit) and Sharma practised it. Tough love was no-no. He was the captain and he believed in setting the tone, taking accountability and owning his decisions. Like he did at Bengaluru after his team were bowled out for 46 on the second morning against the Kiwis after opting to bat first on a grey morning. In a wild departure from a lot of previous captains, he fronted up at the press conference and owned it. Hence, it's not difficult to see why this batch of players are prepared to break open a bank vault for him.
His leadership style also involved him taking one for the team — think Ron Weasley playing wizard's chess in the Philosopher's Stone to make it easier for Harry Potter. One of ODI cricket's great openers had, almost overnight, decided to become a sort of Shahid Afridi like figure at the top.
From striking at a shade under 96 from the beginning of 2015 till the end of 2021 (24 100s), he's now scoring at least 116 runs (Afridi's career strike rate is 117) every 100 balls faced since 2022 (three 100s). How has he done this? He's now willing to take more chances in the powerplay but is also happy to go in search of more hits over the fence.
From 2015 to 2021, his fours to six ratio was over three. The last 40 months? 2.15. All this has resulted in his average falling off the staircase but this is the sort of culture he wanted to set with the bat.
For multiple ICC events cycles, the batting unit was good but it was accused of being a touch medieval. Wicket preservation and not taking enough risks through the middle overs were significant charges. Sharma himself was the beneficiary of a systemic issue but he vowed to change it.
"After the T20 World Cup in Dubai," he had told a TV show, "we felt there needs to be a change in our attitude. ... how we play the game. We had a clear message and they were ready to accept it. If the messages are clear from the captain and the coach, individuals will try and do that. For that, they need freedom and clarity which is what we are trying to do. We are trying to give them as much freedom as possible."
Actions, though, always speak louder than words, especially in elite sport. Would the opener be up for relearning the grammar of the sport he had helped write?
Betcha.
Apart from India's spinners asphyxiating the opposition batters through the middle overs, one of the main points of difference has been the way he has broken up the game in the powerplay with his hedonistic display of batsmanship.
In the first 10 overs in Dubai, on sluggish, tired, slow surfaces, he has hit 153 off 137 balls (a Champions Trophy record and it's not even in the same postcode), featuring 19 fours and six sixes. This devil-may-care attitude has come at a personal cost (dwindling individual returns, no big scores, having to constantly keep justifying his methods to the world and a loss of form and shape in Test cricket) but it's one that was needed to set an example.
Was it worth it? Well after the clock had passed 9 PM local time, he lifted the Champions Trophy. The second piece of silverware he has held aloft in a little over eight months.
He will tell you it was.
He's probably right.
