12 saal mei ek baar toh allowed hai? : How Rohit Sharma villainized himself on and off the field with actions and words
Just a few months back, Rohit Sharma could have done no wrong. Brand new silverware, and a rich vein of form to go along with it, no one even questioned whether it was the beginning of the end despite his age hitting 37. A few months later, the script has taken a dark turn, he is now the not-so-proud owner of some records.
The home streak that began in 2012 was perhaps India's biggest badge of honor in red-ball cricket. India themselves conquered Australia and Gabba, and Sri Lanka conquered South Africa. India, and Australia have tasted great success in England, but no other team even had a say in India, apart from a few sporadic wins that did little to tarnish a formidable record.
Fans have been unable to digest how India have been second best in reading, and playing conditions that they are familiar with. Rohit Sharma had admitted his part in India's loss in the series opener after he chose to bat first. In some way, shape, and form, the loss in the second Test might have just been even worse, just like Ian Smith suggested on air.
Now how much of the blame should be placed on Rohit Sharma and how much of it should be distributed with the preparation and execution is a whole other debate. Be that as it may, at the moment, Rohit Sharma is the captain of a sinking ship, that too on familiar waters, to make things worse.
Rohit Sharma defended when he should attack, and attacked when he should have defended
'Intent' is essentially approaching a problem in a spirited manner or making decisions with some well-thought purpose that aligns together and gets you to the desired result. The manner with which Rohit Sharma and Team India approached this Test was a twisted form of the concept, or a rather here nor there gameplan.
To show intent in cricket, perhaps the primary aspect is to remove the fear of losing, and that very trait was not visible whether it be the body language, decision-making, or the decisiveness of their actions. The fact that the series, and the streak in extension, were on the line, was always on the back of their minds.
India's MO on home soil has been to be so relentless with their prowess that the opponents are left with no chance but to make mistakes eventually, whether it be with the bat or ball. In this case, New Zealand must be credited for hardly putting a foot wrong. At the same time, they were allowed to play in that fashion by India themselves.
A fielder at long on and long off in the first session of play is hardly relentless. Sending a left-handed batter up the order in fear of Mitchell Santner is far from relentless. Failing to match the visitors grasp on conditions is arguably downright unacceptable.
Along expected lines, India had prepared a rank turner, but had lost the crucial toss. They still had a lot of time to impose themselves on the game. It was essential for India to make an early statement, to be on the opponent's case from the start, and to show why a turning track had been made.
There was a time when even the prospect of a rank turner, even an image of such a pitch used to terrorize oppositions. In this case, New Zealand were allowed to breeze past with nary a hiccup. The fact that the visitors were on cruise control for most of the innings has to be put down to Rohit Sharma's captaincy.
The impact of being proactive against being reactive has been well documented, and one cannot help but feel, that Rohit was always one step behind and chasing the game tactically when compared to Latham. The same has been highlighted by several pundits and fans too.
Anything you do can be used against you when it comes to hindsight. Captaincy is a result-oriented endeavor, and nothing is going to change that fact. If a dubious decision contributes to a win, it is labelled a masterstroke, and sometimes when even the right things lead to a loss, then that particular choice is lambasted.
It's tough being always right in cricket, but Rohit Sharma has to do more to try and be right more often, because at present, it does not seem he has a definite grip on the situation.
Rohit's poor choice of words - A reflection of a laid-back mentality or an attempt to calm the storm?
Novices would have thought that the worst was over when the match and series were both done and dusted. Little did they know that the real storm was only beginning to brew through dissection whether it be with a mic or a keyboard, just as it does with every high-profile defeat that India suffers.
Rohit Sharma is no stranger to this, which only makes what he eventually does, even more questionable.
It's been a while since a specific comment from a press conference that has riled everyone up unanimously. Usually, it is the same-old rehearsed, vanilla responses parroted out that fill up time and pages.
Rohit Sharma coming out to address the post-match press conference has been a thing of late. A captain, coming out to face the 'chaaku' and the bullets of the media is admirable, but is it the case when his responses land the team in hot water?
After the second Test, he issued a wide array of responses which were expected considering the gravity of the defeat. But, the takeaway ended up being just a sole sentence from a reply he delivered when the issue of collapses was being addressed.
"We have lost only 2 games. We have won so many matches in India, where batters have played well in bad pitches, why are we not focusing on that? This is the first time that we have collapsed. 12 saal me ek baar to allowed hai yaar. If we were collapsing since 12 years, we would have not won anything. Expectations are high in India that we have to win every thing. We have made that habit. It is not your fault, it is us who have held ourselves to the best standards," Rohit said via India Today.
While one can understand where is coming from, which is a space where he is trying to assure that losing once in 12 years is not the end of the world. But, at the same time, is that the right type of message or the shade of mentality that you want to project at this particularly vulnerable moment?
It is tough to be in Rohit Sharma's place, and you could feel he was hurt by the loss and felt sorry for him too, but his choice of words just paints the wrong picture. Playing a New Zealand side that has just been whitewashed in Sri Lanka, that too without Kane Williamson, if India plans normalising these sorts of results with comments like these, then big trouble is approaching.
Old clips have emerged of Virat Kohli not accepting defeats away from home, and urging the players to be hard on themselves. The recent comments of Rohit Sharma are a stark contrast to that, portraying an environment largely focused on intent and actions without consequences.
The ease and casual tone with which Rohit issued the comment against the backdrop of India's most alarming defeat was a complete mismatch. The general public prided themselves on that streak even though they were not even close to the field, and this defeat hurt them severely, amid this, to hear the captain come out and say that it was alright, was salt in the fresh wounds.
Streaks are bound to come to an end, whether it be The Undertaker, Lance Armstrong, or Team India. Somehow, the captain's reaction to the loss ended up being more surprising and upsetting. The very nonchalant and casual demeanor of Rohit Sharma which fans have grown to love and adore over the years, has now irked the majority to a great extent.