Rohit Sharma of India (Photo by Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images)
He was already a great in limited-overs cricket. He had amassed 8686 runs in ODI cricket in 211 innings at an average of 48.5 with 27 hundreds. He had created history in the 2019 World Cup in England hammering 648 runs in just nine innings which included a record five tons! His T20I numbers were also outstanding. Only Virat Kohli had a higher aggregate and no one had registered more centuries than his four in the format.
RG deep dives into Rohit Sharma’s early struggles in Test cricket and then the dramatic change in his numbers when he was pushed to open for India.
THE STRUGGLE IN TEST CRICKET
Despite these colossal feats in white-ball cricket, Rohit Sharma had inexplicably, struggled in the oldest format of the game. His numbers in Test cricket were at best, mediocre – 1585 runs in 27 matches at an average of 39.6 with three hundreds and 10 fifties. Rohit had started his red-ball career with a bang with two centuries against West Indies – at the Eden Gardens and Wankhede – but failed to impress thereafter with inconsistent returns, often throwing his wicket away after a start. Rohit failed in 13 of the 27 Tests he played for India from his debut in November, 2013 till the Boxing Day Test at the MCG in 2018.
While his numbers at home were quite impressive – 769 runs in nine matches at an average of 85.4 with three hundreds and five fifties, Rohit had played a majority of his Test cricket overseas where he had massively under-performed! He had an aggregate of just 816 runs in 18 Tests away from India at a poor average of 26.3 with five fifties but no century.
Rohit’s form had also taken a downward trend in 2018 where he could muster just 184 runs in eight overseas innings at an average of 26.28 with just one fifty. Time was running out for Rohit – the Test batter.
THE MASTERSTROKE – BIRTH OF ROHIT THE TEST OPENER
India vs South Africa, 1st Test, Vizag, October 2-6, 2019: Rohit Sharma is pushed up the order to open the innings for the very first time in Test cricket. It is his absolute last chance to make a mark in red-ball cricket. A similar move in ODIs in 2013 transformed his limited-overs career and gave birth to one of the greatest openers of all-time in the format. Rohit grabs the opportunity with both hands and hammers a hundred in each innings of the Test matching the feat of five other Indians – Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid, Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane! He also scored his runs at a fair clip (176 in 244 balls & 127 in 149 balls) as India thrash South Africa by 203 runs.
The performance transforms Rohit – the Test batter. The move to send him as opener in red-ball cricket turns out to be a masterstroke. It changes his outlook and approach to the format and gives rise to a match-winner for India at the top of the order.
Since the Vizag Test, Rohit’s Test numbers have skyrocketed. He has an aggregate of 2563 runs in 34 matches at an average of 48.35 including nine hundreds and seven fifties. Only Dimuth Karunaratne of Sri Lanka has scored more runs than Rohit as Test opener since October, 2019. Rohit’s nine tons are also the most for any opening batter in this time-frame and his average places him at number 4 amongst the 18 openers who have scored a minimum of 1000 runs during this period.
DRAMATIC SURGE IN OVERSEAS NUMBERS
Rohit has played 22 Tests in his avatar as opener in India and scored 1644 runs at an average of 51.37 which include seven hundreds and two fifties. A standout feature of his batting has been his scoring rate. Rohit has a strike rate (runs per hundred balls) of 65.16 which suggests that he is taking the attack to the opposition bowlers against the new ball not only demoralizing them but also leaving enough time for the Indian bowlers to get the opposition out twice – something which Virender Sehwag did brilliantly for the country in the 2000s.
THE BEST FOR INDIA
No Indian batter has scored more runs than Rohit since the latter started to open the innings in October, 2019. Rohit has a better batting average than Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Shubman Gill and Rishabh Pant in this time-frame and no one has registered as many hundreds as his nine for India.
Rohit is rated as amongst the best Test openers in the world at present. He is a genuine game-changer for India at the top of the order who scores big runs at a fast pace annihilating opposition bowling attacks and forcing them into submission. Rohit also scores tough runs when most others have failed – his 161 against England in Chennai in 2021 is amongst the finest Test innings by any batter in the sub-continent.
It all started for him on a summer day at Vizag five years ago.
Nikhil Narain
