The captain is a fierce competitor and can be cutthroat when it comes to winning, as well as affords his teammates an insight into his mind…
It was almost ten years ago, when Virat Kohli came in as India’s Test captain, when the term ‘intent’ gained currency regarding Indian cricket. The common perception was that the administration was urging batsmen to increase their scoring rate. It actually meant ‘the intent to enhance the position/get the better of the game, if it is a Test match, on all occasions’. In the Kohli era, captaincy fostered a lethal fast bowling backbone in Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami.
When Rohit Sharma assumed the captaincy, the template of the team was set, but there was an important alteration. To bccitv, he said aggression is about doing not reacting, ‘After that unbelievable victory in Kanpur, I suppose every single person felt that way.’
The arrangement is quite clear with Rohit: win, at any point in time. Even out there on the cricket field, he is as fierce a competitor as any other. He can be cutthroat in the way he seeks victory.
Everything that unfolded during the last two days of the Kanpur Test – a match where India bulldozed Bangladesh under a time limit – embodies Rohit’s style of leadership firmly. He can articulate what he is thinking to the all the players on the team. As we hear the stump mics quite often, Rohit’s casual and friendly ‘comes-goes’ proficiently portrays the big brother image in the Indian camp.
Likewise, in the online show with Indian comedians, where Rishabh Pant was also a part, the other day Pankaj went about asking how he manages Rohit’s absent mindedness Grover Rathore. “When we are on the field, we know exactly what he means,” said Pant.
Most batsmen now refer to Rohit as the proverbial ‘Hitman’ of Indian cricket. The truth is such larger than alive status is farfetched to him. Gabba in 2021, quite a few key players out due to injury and assorted reasons, is the heist of all heists in India. But it wasn’t a fluke.
Rohit did not have the likes of Kohli, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami and Rishabh Pant when the England team toured India for a five match test series earlier this year. He was able to give a total of new Test caps to four players in that series, and each of those players straightaway had their turn to make some outstanding plays.
For Rohit, it is about pulling all people working with him and getting their faith on the gameplan. If one analyzes India’s last year’s sustained supremacy at the ODI World Cup and this year’s T20 World Cup win, and there was free-spirited cricket at the center of it all.
Rohit also takes it on himself to set the mood. “When Rohit says we will chase 400 in the first innings of a test and then in his first two balls I hit sixes, you know your captain means business. All other people sitting in the dressing room can go and hit such balls, irrespective of qualifications,” Ravichandran Ashwin told after the Sri Lanka win in Kanpur.
“For such players, who play at this level, you have to think rationally and not lose your calm to be effective. Not all decisions will bear fruit as such but you have to still back your call. I make use of the information I already have and also personal experience to do that,” Rohit said.
In another six months, Rohit will complete 38 years and possibly be in the last leg of his professional career. However, one can be assured he will expect a rush to cross another finishing line at this moment.
