Captain India

SPORT TEACHES US HOW TO LOSE. IT IS WELL KNOWN THAT IN SPORT you will lose more than you will win. That’s how sport is and in doing so it gets you closer to success. For Rohit Sharma, leader and legend, this holds true more than anyone else. Rohit started as a prodigy in 2007 and won the T20 World Cup in his very first attempt under the talismanic leadership of MS Dhoni. But thereafter he saw a dip in his career graph and wasn’t picked for the team for the 2011 ODI World Cup played on home soil. Such was the heartbreak that Rohit worked like a maniac to become fitter and more committed and forced his way back into the team for the 2015 ODI World Cup, which yet again ended in heartbreak in Sydney with a semi-final loss to Australia.

Since then he had come close far too many times. The last few times as captain and leader. At home in 2023 he changed the very template with which India played its white-ball cricket. Aggressive from the start, it was a very different Rohit. And a very different India. Just when everyone thought he could go the distance with this team in Ahmedabad, Australia led by Pat Cummins and Travis Head stopped Rohit in his tracks. For a mere mortal it would be the end of the road. Finishing second best wasn’t bad and it was time to focus on red-ball cricket. Much to everyone’s surprise Rohit decided to continue as T20 captain and silently went about readying himself for one final battle in the US and the Caribbean. This time too, the journey wasn’t smooth. He was removed as skipper by the Mumbai franchise and did not have a good Indian Premier League (IPL). His poor form was in focus and few had given him a chance in the World Cup. I for one felt this was a team lesser than Australia or South Africa and would find it hard to go the distance. Rohit, however, had other ideas.

From the very start of the competition, it was his leader­ship that came to the fore. Decisions that were out of the box but well thought-out. In the match against Pakistan he pushed Axar Patel to No 4, ahead of Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya. Surprisingly, Axar delivered and helped India set up the game. Even with the ball he brought in Axar at the start of the 11th over, straight after the drinks break when Pakistan seemed to have taken control. Axar picked up Usman Khan with the very first ball and the gates opened for India. Bringing Jasprit Bumrah back to clean up Mohammad Rizwan was yet another masterstroke and it was evident that Rohit, the leader, was in the zone.

His efforts with the bat, however, continued to be modest— till everything changed in that match against Australia. A team that had hurt him bad on November 19, 2023 in Ahmedabad and could have gone the distance in the Caribbean. Rohit, however, had other ideas and despite losing Virat Kohli early on, played the innings of the competition. To cart Mitchell Starc all over the park isn’t easy and Rohit was doing exactly that. He had answers to everything that was thrown at him and it was an innings comparable to Sachin Tendulkar’s 98 against Pakistan at Centurion in the 2003 World Cup and Virat’s 82, NO (not out) also against Pakistan at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). It was an innings from the pages of history and elevated Rohit to cult status. He could do no wrong and his success with the bat rubbed off on his leadership as well. Getting Kuldeep Yadav into the attack to clean up Glenn Maxwell, Rohit was now a man possessed. But then the cup was still far away and he couldn’t afford a slip. England, India’s nemesis in Adelaide in 2022, was on the way and Jos Buttler was back in form and a looming threat.

In Guyana, with rain on the horizon ahead of the semi-final, Rohit lost the toss. But then tosses don’t win cricket matches, effort does, and he was effort personified. Yet again Virat was dismissed early but Rohit powered on. Shots across the ground, it was a telling statement. A new India was on show and the captain was shaping the narrative himself. It was his innings that set it all up and England just managed to get past 100, losing by 68 runs.

The story isn’t fully understood if we don’t speak of Rohit the leader. Buttler had hit three fours off Arshdeep Singh and England were off to a flier. India needed to get Buttler, and of all people Rohit turned to Axar. That’s when the mistake came. A dreaded reverse sweep and Buttler was dismissed. India, all of a sudden, were back in control. A series of inspired bowling changes followed and in no time England were vanquished and Adelaide 2022 redeemed.

But then we had made multiple finals under Rohit and it wasn’t something radically new in the annals of our history. A defeat in the final would still count as failure and Rohit knew it more than anyone. With Rahul Dravid in tow—the head coach, too, would walk into the sunset after the final—Rohit had no option but to script history and win. For South Africa the final was a good showing. For India, it was par for the course. A routine effort and the fans wouldn’t be satisfied. You had to go the distance and be world champions. Nothing else mattered and it was the ultimate test of Rohit the leader.

A final is more often than not won in the mind. It is more men­tal than anything else. Skill doesn’t really matter and you need to believe you can go all the way. Hold your nerve and take the hard calls. At a time when South Africa were cruising and just needed 27 off 28 balls with five wickets still in hand, which included Heinrich Klaasenand DavidMiller, mostteams would have given up. Captains are bound to feel the pressure and Rohit did too. But then he needed to stay calm. Be in the present and not give up. Deal with the adversity and figure out a way. Find a solution to the crisis and keep his boys motivated. Ten minutes of magic was what India needed and Rohit was invested with the responsibility of generat­ing that magic. He went to Hardik Pandya and many felt it could cost him dear. Klaasen, in red hot form, would attack Hardik and one good over meant it was all but over for India. Rohit, however, felt otherwise. He backed his Mumbai teammate and entrusted him with the responsibility when it mattered the most. This is what a true leader does. Against all odds, he backs a teammate to deliver. Makes him feel special and gives him the confidence. Rohit did the same with Hardik and while it was apparent that he was feeling the tension, Hardik delivered with the very first ball. It was a nothing shot from Klaasen and Rishabh Pant gobbled the edge with glee. Rohit had managed to break South Africa open and India could sense a chance. Yes, South Africa still held the aces with David Miller out there but the door had just about started to open.

This was the moment that decided the game. Could India and Rohit go in for the kill or could South Africa hold their nerve? With three overs still to go, it was expected that Rohit would go to Arshdeep, Bumrah and Hardik in that order. Bumrah normally bowls the 19th over and always has the task of giving the team the maximum cushion. Not so against South Africa. Rohit went to Bumrah in the 18th over itself and played his trump card. He was on the prowl and wasn’t willing to hold back anymore. It was a frontal attack and all he needed was a wicket. Shape the narrative himself and induce the mistake rather than wait for South Africa to commit it. And yet again for Rohit the move paid off. Bumrah bowled a sensational delivery to Marco Jansen who was beaten all ends up and the leg stump bail went for a real long walk. The last recognised batting pair had been dismantled and South Africa had started to feel the pressure. You could see from Rohit’s body language that he was doing everything to stay calm. In fact, he was gesticulating after every ball, urging his teammates to stay calm and focused and to just follow the process. It was much like a general marshalling his troops and such is his acceptance, every­one was following like clockwork. And it was only when the fifth ball was bowled and the catch taken that Rohit let his emotions come out. The match had been won with a ball to be bowled and the Indian skipper couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Much like Tendulkar walking back to the Wankhede wicket to perform his final pranaam, Rohit Sharma going back to the Kensington Oval pitch to eat a couple of blades of grass will forever be a picture-postcard moment for Indian fans. He was doing so for one last time as India’s T20 captain and there’s no better way to walk into the sunset than moments after winning the world trophy.

IT WAS JUST days after Rohit had been appointed captain in December 2021 that I had a chat with him. It was a fairly long interview that lasted close to an hour and for more than half of it Rohit kept speaking about the importance of winning a World Cup. For him, it was a single-minded pursuit. “Not many countries play cricket at the highest level and if we aren’t able to beat them and win a world trophy with all the resources we have then we have failed ourselves and our fans,” Rohit had said. It was clear he wouldn’t stop short. He wanted his team to be ready for every adversity and was prepared to give people a long rope. “You can’t remove players after a couple of games. It creates a sense of in­security among them. You need to give them a longer run and the results will come,” he had said. When I think back to these words, I understand why he persisted with Shivam Dube all through the tournament. Had India lost, the Dube selection would be debated the country over and Rohit hauled up for a humongous blunder. Now it will no longer be the case. Dube played a brilliant cameo of 27 in the final and in doing so redeemed himself and saved his captain. Ask Rohit about it and all you will get is a smile. Very Rohit. Relaxed and composed, and someone who knows what he is after and what he wants from his players. Despite criticism coming his way from multiple quarters he did not abandon Dube midway. Rather, Rohit kept backing Dube all through the competition and managed to eke out a very valuable contribution from him in the game that mattered the most.

It is Rohit’s obsession with a world title that has led him to transform his approach to cricket. In Australia in October 2022, India played conventional cricket and lacked the ability to experiment. Despite speaking about a changed stance and a fear­less approach to the T20 format, nothing much was seen on the pitch and soon Rohit realised that he would have to lead from the front if India had to adapt to the new template. For other players it would be tough to change their game and most would be un­comfortable doing so. Rohit, as a result, decided to lead from the front. While he did not score too many hundreds or too many fifties in the 2023 World Cup, what he did was walk the talk. That it was a very different template was evident to everyone and what was also evident was how the captain had changed his own game to suit this new narrative. Rohit wasn’t impacted by the fear of failure and that’s what defined his art.

Sample this from him just ahead of the third Test against Australia in December 2020 when Rohit had to serve 14 days of hard quarantine to be able to join the team in Melbourne.

Ahead of this tour, it was an easy solution for Rohit to opt out. Having won a fifth IPL title with Mumbai Indians, he was the toast of the nation and comparisons were rife if he should re­place Virat as India’s white-ball captain. While such comparisons were a social media pastime, the fact remains that it is impossible to question Rohit’s leadership acumen which he has time and again proved in IPL. Having come back to India to tend to his father who was infected with Covid, Rohit could have decided on skipping the Australia tour, undergo a full-fledged rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) and be ready for the England tour at home in February 2021. It was logical to do so because a 14-day hard quarantine awaited him in Australia if he decided to undertake the trip down under during the pandemic. While the team was moving from one bio-secure bubble in the UAE to another in Sydney and as a result was allowed to train while serving the mandatory two weeks of quarantine, in Rohit’s case things were different. He would have to fly on a commercial airline and that meant he wouldn’t be allowed to train for 14 days and would be confined to a hotel room, which could impact his recovery. In contrast, rehab at NCA was the more prudent option, for cricket in India was gradually coming to terms with Covid and Rohit could be ready for Test cricket by early 2021.

This is how we tended to think. Not so Rohit. “I decided to travel to Australia for that’s what I think is right,” said Rohit in one of our many con­versations during the 14-day quarantine in Sydney. “This is very difficult I can assure you and I can also tell you I wouldn’t do this ever again. In fact, no one should have to go through this; it is that hard. Having said that, I am convinced I did the right thing for my dream is to play Test cricket for India and it is only fair that I live my dream,” he argued.

It was fair I asked him the dreaded follow-up question. Did failure ever crop up in his mind? Was he not afraid that he would be stepping out to open the batting against the world’s best fast-bowling attack with very little preparation? He was planning to play Test cricket in Australia having not played any competi­tive cricket for close to two months and having served a difficult quarantine. It meant he would go into the third Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) without a single tour game and with only six days of proper training. Simply put, it was near-impossible to succeed in the circumstances. Did Rohit not think about the practicalities before he decided to take up the challenge?

“You can’t pick and choose when it comes to playing for India. As I said before, my dream is to play Test cricket for India and that’s what I am doing. If I fail that’s okay with me, but not trying isn’t. That would not seem right and in the end it is about doing things that you feel are right,” he had said candidly.

I also asked him if his desire to play more Test cricket comes from the fact that he hadn’t really done justice to his talent in the red-ball format. Yet again, Rohit was forthright. “Let me remind you that I started out as an off-spinner! That’s the talent I started with. Batting has only come later. But yes, you can say that in terms of the standards that I have set for myself as a cricketer I have scored less in Test cricket. While I don’t have any regrets and think I have enough time left to do well, I will say it is a combination of two things. First, I have not always played the best shot and I will to­tally accept that criticism. That’s how every person learns and I am no different. The second is luck. There have been occasions when I had been playing really well but then I got injured and had to sit out a few months recuperating. You don’t or rather you can’t con­trol such things and all you can do is just come to terms and move on. I am not one to sit back and crib about what has happened. Rather, I am always looking ahead to see how I can contribute to the team’s cause and make a real difference as a cricketer.”

He has already done so in the T20 format. Scaled Everest and has now handed over the baton. His job is done and he has no incentive left to carry on in the format. Now it is time for him to focus on red-ball cricket and scale one more peak. Perhaps the toughest in cricket for that matter. India will be travelling to Australia in November and Rohit will surely be skipper. A good effort in Australia will mean India makes the final of the World Test Championship for the third time in a row. And that’s what Rohit will be after. Make history one more time and make amends for what happened at the Oval in June 2023. In what is the ultimate Test, he will want to stand tall and be counted. And just as in the case of the T20 World Cup, he will be the best prepared. Lead from the front and shape the narrative. That’s what it is all about for one of the best of our era. Rohit is a leader and for someone of his calibre it is never about individual glory. As one of the most successful captains in cricket, Rohit Sharma knows how to win and with a world title under his belt, he knows the jinx is broken. Knowing him, he wouldn’t want to stop at one. The World Test Championship could be the next target and with Rohit in charge, India has a chance. A very good chance under Captain, Leader and Legend Rohit Sharma.

Hardik PandyaJasprit BumrahKensingtonRohit SharmaShivam DubeT20 World Cup 2024