Rohit's race against time to stop the decline

Rohit Sharma's recent cricket performances suggest a struggle in finding his form on the field. It has been almost a year since he last scored a hundred in any format, and one of his favourite shots - the pull shot - has often led to his downfall. His feet and head are not always aligned with his hands, resulting in a lack of synchronization in his game. Such challenges are common for an opener who aims to perform consistently at the highest level. However, the issue has persisted even during tours in New Zealand and Australia, a Ranji Trophy match, and a one-day match against England.

An inscrutable figure that Rohit is, it’s impossible to perceive how exactly he must have felt sitting out the Sydney Test while allaying retirement rumours, only for that talk to resurface in ODIs, a format he virtually owns with three double centuries. The lack of runs is real though. The early dismissals too. Worse is how he’s getting beaten left and right, to pace, bounce or the lack of it, mostly on Indian pitches that he usually reads like the back of his hand. And so valid are concerns that it may not only be about recent form anymore, that the numbers are in terminal decline, something even his former teammate believes has to snap soon.

“If you look at it from Rohit’s point of view, then obviously, it is frustrating for him,” R Ashwin has said on his YouTube channel. “He needs to concentrate on the series. He thinks that he has done well in the format and he’d like to continue that. But people will ask questions. The ones who are watching will obviously ask. It’s a catch-22 situation. You can’t stop these questions. When will they stop? When he performs,” he said.

Easier said than done, Rohit must be realise by now. The 2023 ODI World Cup marked a shift in approach where he didn’t try to hang around so it’s unlikely he will reconsider it in what could be the final leg of his white-ball career. That practically rules out Rohit trying to bat through Powerplay overs unless he gets to quick starts. It basically leaves him in a catch-22 situation where the innings will depend heavily on his early conversion rate. A momentum player, Rohit is in dire need of a proper start.

That is where his dwindling control percentage becomes a concern. Case in point is the dismissal at Nagpur — trying to whip Saqib Mahmood over midwicket but failing to read the swing on the ball that took the toe of his bat and ballooned to Liam Livingstone. Shades of this dismissal were found at the MCG as well more than a month back, with Sharma trying to pull Pat Cummins but spooning it to mid-on. Different formats, similar dismissals, this isn’t about form anymore. Rohit may be actually out of touch.

The timing is worse. Two matches to go for the Champions Trophy and India’s batting still teasing itself with the thrill of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shreyas Iyer when Rohit and Virat Kohli should have been leading the charge is really leaving it too late. Ruled out of Nagpur due to a distressed knee, Kohli should be back in Cuttack, meaning Iyer may have to miss out despite a scintillating fifty in the first ODI. Kohli is the ultimate chase master, but no one has quite given the sheen to India’s one-day batting like Rohit. So, for India’s white-ball batting to really drive home its dominance, Rohit needs to flourish at the top, set up big scores.

“I personally don’t think there is any problem,” said Sitanshu Kotak, India’s batting coach, when asked about Rohit’s batting. “I mean, the last three ODIs Rohit has played, he has scored 56, 64 and 35. So, nearly averaging 50-plus in those last three one-dayers. I mean, we are talking about a player, like the guy has got 31 one-day international hundreds. And when they are back-to-back matches, when they keep scoring runs, nobody asks when will he fail.”

Perhaps a bit unfortunate is the optics that goes against Rohit, considering India can’t catch a break from a pressing schedule. But he is also known to step up to the game when required, especially in ICC events. Key here would be how he chooses to see the rest of this white-ball season — as two different series or an uninterrupted sequence.

One-dayers give batters the opportunity to pause and reset but Rohit tends to deny himself that luxury. This series, thus, might be the last chance for him to move closer to where he has been, and must be.

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