This was always going to be Rohit Sharma’s sternest test as batsman, strategist and leader. Up against him was Ben Stokes’ Bazballing England, gung-ho going into the five-Test series on the back of a refreshingly positive approach to Test cricket. India had had a taste of England’s new-found attacking mindset in Birmingham two years back when they effortlessly hunted down 378 in the fourth innings (in a mere 76.4 overs) for the loss of just three wickets, but Rohit had missed that game through injury, so this really would be his first taste of life in the Bazball fast lane.
IND v ENG Test series recap: No Virat Kohli; Ollie hits 196
At various stages in the early part of the series, Rohit Sharma looked a little out of sorts, both as leading batsman and as captain. The big runs weren’t flowing off his bat – perhaps, he played well within himself, aware that in Virat Kohli’s absence, he had to carry the batting and therefore uncharacteristically went into his shell – and his decision-making was somewhat iffy, especially in England’s second innings in the lung-opener in Hyderabad when Ollie Pope swept and reverse-swept his way to what could have been a series-defining 196.
IND v ENG 2nd Test: Jasprit Bumrah to the rescue
India were dealt several unkind cuts after the shattering loss in Hyderabad. KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja joined Kohli on the sidelines with injuries ahead of the second game in Visakhapatnam and India were forced to hand out a debut to Rajat Patidar. It needed the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah for India to get out of jail and square the series.
3rd Test save by Sarfaraz Khan, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja & of course Rohit Sharma
Over to Rajkot then, and the best of Rohit surfaced. Opting to bat in excellent batting conditions, he watched in stunned disbelief as Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Patidar perished to Mark Wood. Shreyas Iyer and KS Bharat’s poor form had forced the leadership group to blood Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel, respectively, but it was incumbent upon the captain and the returning Jadeja to rescue the team from the depths of 33 for three.
They did so with great elan, Rohit producing an excellent century and Ravindra Jadeja following suit to rally the hosts to 445. So far so good. Then came 35 overs of mayhem on the second evening, Ben Duckett destroying the bowling on his way to an 88-ball century and muscling the visitors to 207 for two.
It was crunch time. The game was fast slipping away from India, and unless they found a way to staunch the bleeding, this would be a long, hard series. That’s when Rohit’s astuteness as skipper made a timely appearance. Urging his bowlers to come up with tighter lines and setting fields that frustrated the boundary-loving Duckett, Rohit orchestrated a tremendous fightback, aided in no small measure by an ill-advised reverse scoop from ex-captain Joe Root that opened the floodgates and set up India’s record 434-run triumph.
In many ways, that will go down as one of India’s finest victories. Rohit and Jadeja apart, India’s top seven had a combined 29 Test caps; additionally, ace off-spinner R. Ashwin missed the entire third day’s proceedings after flying home to Chennai to attend to a medical emergency in his family. India could so easily have rolled over and waved the white flag, because there were readymade excuses galore. In getting his side to rise to the occasion and trade punches before triumphing by the proverbial country mile – if this was a boxing bout, the referee might well have stepped in and stopped the contest, given the eventual pummeling England received – Rohit brought to fore his famed game awareness that had helped him pilot Mumbai Indians (MI) to five IPL titles.
Rohit is no longer the MI captain – that responsibility has been thrust on Hardik Pandya’s shoulders – but he is still the Indian skipper across formats and will spearhead the quest for an ICC title at the T20 World Cup in the United States and the Caribbean in June. This is India’s last international assignment before the big bash, and while the formats are entirely different and the needs, demands and personnel won’t bear too much similarity, a series victory against this England side which is so different from those of the past will be a huge shot in the arm.
Report card: Rohit Sharma as captain in IND v ENG Test series
Stokes has walked away with all the plaudits for his handling of a greenhorn spin group – at the start of the series, three of his four tweakers had a combined solitary Test cap, and the most experienced spinner, Jack Leach, was ruled out after the first Test – and setting innovative, creative fields designed to give the impression that he is plotting something when he is merely rolling the dice. Rohit hasn’t quite got the same credit, which is a shame because he has been every bit as inspirational as his England counterpart, if not more.
India have had to scrap and fight and claw their way back from adversity throughout the first four Tests. To do so successfully must be especially satisfying; there is no little delight in lording over the opposition, but hard-fought victories hold a special meaning for competitive sportspersons and Rohit is nothing if not that. Don’t let his affable exterior and a ready smile fool you.
IND v ENG 4th Test
On Monday in Ranchi, Rohit breezed to 4,000 Test and 9,000 first-class runs, just rewards for someone whose Test career appeared to be at a crossroads until he was pitchforked into the role of an opener in October 2019. In that avatar, he has amassed 2,449 of his 4,034 Test runs (in 58 games), at an average of 48.98. Eight of his 11 hundreds have come in 31 matches at the top of the batting tree and alongside fellow Mumbaikar Jaiswal, the young left-hander, Rohit forms a combine of opposites that has served the team excellently in the last eight fixtures.
In this series, after four ordinary innings, Rohit has found his bearings. After Jaiswal and Gill, he has the most runs (297) by an Indian which, allied with his sharp catching in the slip against the spinners and his ability to find a way to wriggle out of a tight corner, underpins his undisputed all-round value. That he has managed to keep England at bay in a series where, for the first time in 24 years India have fielded four debutants, is testament to his man-management skills. India must count themselves fortunate that in Rohit, they have another in a long list of exceptional captains who have kept the country’s flag flying high in the searing crucible that Test cricket is.
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