Why Rohit Sharma should focus on becoming more consistent with the bat
Exasperation. This is one word that keeps coming back when you talk about Rohit Sharma. For a man with two double centuries to his credit in ODIs, this is not the word that should spring to your mind. And yet it does. This is the irony of Rohit's career.
Team India was in a rebuilding phase in 2007 after the retirement of VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble, and Sourav Ganguly. MS Dhoni was handed the reins of a young team for the inaugural World T20. It was then that Rohit made a mark for himself by scoring an unbeaten 50 against the Proteas.
He followed it up with a mature knock partnering Sachin Tendulkar in final of CB Series in Australia to ensure a historic win for India. Since then his career has been a bumpy ride.
A look at recent events forces us to take a look at his career. He has openly stated that the "natural talent" tag attached to him is given by media and is "unfair and wrong". What is he trying to convey here? Is this a reaction to pressure and expectations or a candid admission of his limited abilities.
More importantly, does he think it will help him to save his career? Coming out and telling "listen, folks, I am not as good as you think I am" will certainly not help his cause. Whatever the case may be, his statements forced me to take a look at his records.
| Batsman | Career Average | Away Average |
|---|---|---|
| Ajinkya Rahane | 31 | 30.11 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | 44.41 | 32.51 |
| Virat Kohli | 50.66 | 44.71 |
| Rohit Sharma | 39.2 | 29.81 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 32.21 | 36.13 |
Statistically speaking, Rohit has the lowest average among the batsmen overseas and even lower than Ravindra Jadeja who plays as an all-rounder! These are certainly not the kind of numbers a top order batsman would want against his name.
Well, what about those double hundreds? Scoring a double hundred in one-day cricket is not child's play. These two are equally true facts and a perfect reflection of Rohit's career. He is exceptional at times and exceptionally ordinary at others. He needs to find a middle way. He needs to find a way to be more consistent, otherwise talented or not, Indian team will move on.
If his limited-over career is a cause of concern, then his Test career desperately needs saving. He made his Test debut six years after his one-day debut! He scored back to back hundreds in his first two Tests in Kolkata and Mumbai in the farewell Test series of Sachin Tendulkar.
Sachin has been a part of turning points in Rohit's career, but he too could only do so much. After the two centuries, Rohit kept getting out after starts, something which he has marginally improved on his latest innings, if he continues doing that, he will ensure a berth in Test side.
The other statement that he made recently is about "developing his seam bowling skills to add value to the team". This is preposterous given the stage of his career. There are certain reasons which clearly point that this is not a wise decision on part of Rohit.
- The conditions will not always be favorable to his kind of seam bowling
- Unless you have good control the batsmen will look to maximize on your bowling, developing control is not easy
- Kohli himself can bowl seam up in case the conditions are favorable
Rohit can make a place for himself in Team only as a pure batsman. If he cannot deliver in that role, no amount of value addition on bowling front is useful. His reasoning that he started as a bowler in his early days will not hold water given that he has been part of Indian team as specialist batsman and once you play as a specialist it does not matter much what you did in early days.
There are however certain freakish cases such as Steve Smith who was able to turn around his role inside, but those are outliers and should not be attempted to emulate. At this stage, Rohit looks puzzled about his role in the team and what he can offer to the team.
It is time that he gets into ears of senior players or selectors to clear his head. And lastly he must remember if he cannot be part of Test setup, he need not feel disheartened. There have been many international players who could have played a bigger part in their respective Test teams but couldn't. He needs to understand his style of cricket and leave the rest to cricketing gods.