In 2007, when he was not yet 20, Rohit Sharma was tipped to be a dark horse pick in India’s World Cup squad. The selectors were keen to gamble with his precocious talent at the tournament at a time when the squad was faction-ridden. But at the very last minute, the selectors and team think-tank backed out from making that bold call. The team think-tank at the time was led by then captain Rahul Dravid.
That year, India’s World Cup campaign ended in disaster, as they did not make the second round and all hell broke loose in the country. Between 2007 and 2011, Rohit Sharma was one of the many young faces tried out by Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Gary Kirsten, the head coach, in the white-ball format. He became the face of India’s brave new generation alongside Virat Kohli. They were expected to be the torchbearers for the coming generation. But just on the eve of the 2011 World Cup, Sharma was dropped for the World Cup.
The selectors led by former India captain Krishnamachari Srikkanth had pencilled in his name, but Dhoni preferred an extra spinner in home conditions. Sharma was heartbroken and one more World Cup opportunity slipped away from his grasp.
India went on to win the World Cup and Sharma was in Mumbai when the entire country celebrated as one. Any other individual would have felt lost amidst the pandemonium, but Sharma was not one to be left behind. He upped his game in the intervening years and reinvented himself for the sake of the team.
On the advice of Dhoni, Sharma started opening in white ball cricket and became an instant hit playing a starring role in India’s 2013 Champions Trophy, incidentally the last time the men in blue won an ICC title. Sharma went from strength to strength scoring three double-centuries in ODI cricket. Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli became the new holy trinity for India in ODI cricket.
Together the trio kept knocking over totals with ease and in the process scored hundreds for fun. Sharma’s moment under the sun in a 50-over World Cup finally came in 2015, eight years after he first came to prominence. Sharma’s hundred in that World Cup against Bangladesh in the quarterfinal was the centrepiece of his efforts in that tournament.
While all this was happening, Sharma kept making constant attempts to make a mark as a Test batter, but never quite succeeded. In Test cricket he started with a bang, but his presence in the middle-order was always a matter of debate. In T20 cricket, he did have flashes of brilliance.
Finally in the 2019 ODI World Cup, Sharma batted like a dream, scoring five hundreds that led India all the way to the semifinal. Sharma’s amazing run of scores helped India knock over almost everyone during the tournament. He was batting like a man possessed.
That 2019 edition led to Sharma’s reincarnation as a cricketer and forced the team think-tank to pick him even in Test matches, only this time as an opener. He never looked back after that. His career was back on track across all three formats and in the Indian Premier League (IPL), Sharma was winning titles galore as captain of the Mumbai Indians.
Sharma needed a new challenge in his career. That challenge came when out of the blue Kohli announced that he was stepping down as T20 captain (2021) and then as a Test leader (2022). Sharma was the obvious choice to take over because he was the only other candidate available for all three formats. The selectors were happy to hand him the baton.
But injuries plagued Sharma much like most of his career and he faced a tough start to his full-time captaincy tenure in 2022. Through many ups and downs, Sharma finally led India at the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia. The campaign ended in disaster and the debate started once again.
Confusion reigned supreme about India’s captaincy in the shorter formats In Test matches, the disaster of the World Test Championship (WTC) final in June 2023 further compounded problems for Sharma. His injury-enforced breaks also complicated issues.
It was only when India won the Asia Cup in September that the debate around Sharma's captaincy halted. Sharma is neither a magnetic personality like Dhoni who has a legion of fans for his calm attitude, nor an aggressive person like Kohli who will go to war for his players. Sharma has his own unique style when it comes to leadership and has thus far managed to keep the squad united.
Like every other captain, he has his pick and it is very clear that Ravichandran Ashwin’s late inclusion in India’s World Cup squad is clearly his choice. Sharma named Ashwin as a possible choice without anyone’s prompting post the Asia Cup triumph. Now that Ashwin has been picked in the squad, he will be a sure starter in almost every game.
Sharma no longer has his long-term partner Dhawan in the squad and must adjust to pairing with boy wonder Shubman Gill. Then he has other issues on his mind, like picking three or two spinners, selecting one between Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer. Above all, Sharma must deal with the pressure of India’s billion-plus cricket pundits who want nothing more than a World Cup.
The fact that the tournament is happening at home after 12 years and the fact that India has not won a title in 10 years weighs on every Indian’s mind.
For Sharma the tournament, therefore, represents unfinished business both as a player and as a captain. As a player, he missed out on the 2011 edition and as a captain he has an opportunity to leave behind a legacy like Dhoni or Kapil Dev.
For a man who was destined for big things in his cricket career when he first burst onto the scene in 2006, the 2023 World Cup campaign brings the best opportunity to show the world just why he was always rated so highly.
Teaming up with him now is Sharma’s first captain Dravid, who almost gave him a break at the 2007 World Cup. Dravid probably missed the prodigious Sharma at the 2007 campaign.
Now 16 years on, can both make up for the lost time? That is the big question as India takes on Australia in their first match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.
If you are a history buff, then here is a bit of trivia. In the 1987 World Cup when India and Australia played each other in their first game of the tournament, it was at the same venue in Chennai. India lost by just one run as they committed hara-kiri. Thankfully, there was no social media then for the squad to be worried about. Now something similar in 2023 will lead to mayhem.
But try as hard as you can, you cannot reach Sharma because he has already deleted those apps from his phone. So, a social media detoxed Sharma is doubly dangerous.
Beware, world, for Sharma is aiming to be third time lucky!
Also read: A look back at the Indian cricket team's track record in ODI World Cups from 1975 to 2019
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