CHENNAI: In the middle of February last year, India captain Rohit Sharma reached a point where he had never been before as a Test opener. For the first time since taking up the role, Rohit had come closest to that magical figure — Test average of 50.
He started his Test career with a bang, but only a year later, it had gone downhill. From averaging 56.87 in early 2014 as a middle-order batter, his number had gone down to 39.62 just before he was asked to open in the longest format in 2019. Since then, he has been on an upward curve. And his hundred against Australia in Nagpur last year had taken his Test average to 47.2.
At that stage, Rohit was the all-format captain leading India to the World Test Championship final. He had been one of the best Test openers for about three years. From the time he started opening till the end of 2022, no opener, who had more than 1000 runs, had a better average than he did (55.42). He was competing with the likes of Usman Khawaja, David Warner and Abdullah Shafique. During this time, India had won a Test series in Australia, came close to winning one in England and had lost just one match at home.
India went on to win the series against Australia at home and qualify for the WTC final, but Rohit as an opener hasn't been the same since. Since that hundred in Nagpur against Australia, he averages 32.8 in 31 innings with three hundreds and four fifties — one hundred and two fifties came against a depleted West Indies attack. To put it into context, his current opening partner Yashasvi Jaiswal averages close to 60 in the period (59.65).
It is not just about the averages and arbitrary numbers. In this time, India have lost four Tests at home — two to New Zealand, one each against Australia and England. The results, although not necessarily attributed to Rohit's performance, his sub-par performance have affected India massively at the top. Now, it might not necessarily be a slump, but Rohit has become more inconsistent than he used to be in the format. He has crossed the 40-run mark only eight times in 31 innings with the occasional fifty and hundred to show.
Last year, when India went into the Rajkot Test against England after levelling the series 1-1 in Visakhapatnam, there was a similar concern. Rohit scored a century there, and followed up with another in Dharamsala. His Test average had slipped below 45 during that series, but by the time India won the series 4-1, it had gone back to 45.46. It seemed like an indication of turning the tide. However, that has not been the case.
Since the start of this home season in Chennai, the Indian captain has gotten into double digits only twice in eight innings. His two centuries, in a series where his opening partner scored over 700 runs, looked good and did not affect India as much. But with Jaiswal not piling runs as he did against England — only comparatively as the youngster has been India's best batter this season with four fifties — Rohit's lack of form has come at a cost as India's home streak came to an end with the defeat against New Zealand in the second Test in Pune. This is not to attribute the loss to Rohit's batting. But it has played a part. At a time when India desperately needed their captain to step up, especially after the loss against New Zealand in Bengaluru, Rohit faltered.
And the dismissals tell a story. Yes, he might have been unlucky in the second innings of the Bengaluru Test, but he seemed to have become more susceptible against seamers early on. In four of the eight innings this season, he has gotten out to a pacer with a new ball.
As much as some of them have been really good deliveries, it also makes one wonder whether his transformation as an intent merchant in white-ball over the last two years has affected, at least ever so slightly, the way he bats against the new ball. The discipline he showed as an opener in England three years ago — arguably the best he has batted in Tests — doesn't seem to be there. Although one can say that there seems to be a paradigm shift in the way teams approach Test batting, for reasons of skill and mindset, it has affected Rohit, who at 37, is in his November as a cricketer. That his Test average has gone down to 42.83 in 18 months sums it up.
That said, Rohit, the Test batter and captain, is yet to face his biggest challenge — five Tests in Australia where India will be looking to win the series for the third time and a WTC qualification spot. To imprint his legacy in the longest format, as he has in limited-overs, he needs to be at his best with the bat. So come Friday, when India take the field in the third Test against New Zealand in Mumbai, the captain in Rohit Sharma will be looking for the Test batter in him now more than ever to step up and do the job for his team.
