The Curious Case of RoKo

I had ended my last blog on the note that there are 2 pairs of legends whom I hadn’t touched and both these pairs deserved a separate blog. So here we are with 1^st of those blogs on the Batting legend pair. The past few months have been poor for Rohit Sharma as well as Virat Kohli in the longer format. Both had retired from T20Is after lifting the T20 World Cup in June 2024. With focus shifting to Tests and the World Test Championship, India should have had an easy entry into the final with 2 home series and one away series pending. But as fate would have it, in a dramatic turn of events, India was whitewashed at home by New Zealand. And with that India’s hopes of reaching the final were also quashed. From there on India needed something more than extra ordinary in Australia but with poor batting and bowling after the 1^st test, except Bumrah of-course, it was never going to happen.

India’s batting failures as a group have been the primary cause for the losses at home and away as well. Rohit and Kohli not scoring runs has contributed to those batting failures largely. Rohit had a decent England series with 2 centuries and 1 half century in 9 innings. Consistency was lacking but the big score were coming. Since the Bangladesh series though, of the 15 innings, he has been in double digits only 5 times, of which he has crossed 20 only twice. The numbers are poor but if you see any of these innings, he wasn’t dismissed off unplayable deliveries. Neither has he looked comfortable barring the solitary 55 against New Zealand. It has been a struggle for him at the crease. With Rohit, it has been a debate whether he is a credible test player. He isn’t one with the strongest techniques. It is also a reason why he couldn’t become a test permanent till 2018. But ever since he got an opportunity at the top from series against SA at home in 2019, he showed that he can be compact and play close to his body and show the patience required for Test Batter. From that SA series to the England series in 2024, of the 54 innings he batted, he was dismissed in single digit on only 6 occasions. He also scored 9 centuries and 7 fifties in that period.

I feel the recent failure is because of the change in mindset with intent and aggression taking the front seat since the 2023 World Cup. He has taken upon himself to lead from the front with the way he wants the team to play. It did work in the World Cup till the final. It also worked in the T20I World Cup and all the matches in between but surely it cannot work in Test Cricket. Although it is very entertaining, I am not a big fan of this approach in the ODIs as well. I have always believed that the longer Rohit stays at the crease the better it is for India. There is hardly any player who can be as destructive as Rohit throughout the middle overs and at the death as well. If any of his daddy hundreds are analysed, you can see that the scoring rate just soars once he crosses 100. But clearly, he has changed his approach and it did work in the shorter formats, but you can’t go searching for runs or boundaries in Tests especially if you are an opener. It is the most difficult period to bat and due respect should be given. Often, it has been poor shot selection, expansive driving, and the urge to manufacture boundary balls that has been his undoing in the recent past.

Speaking about the road ahead, as painful as it might be, I must accept that Rohit’s career is nearing its’ end. And ODI has been his strongest format. I feel he should continue in this format as long as he is scoring runs but he should end it in the longer format. It would have made sense to continue if India had qualified for the WTC final. But with the next Test assignment being in June in England, I feel it makes sense for him to leave the format and make it clear as early as possible. It will help the next set of openers to prepare themselves and get into that frame of mind for playing in England in those swinging conditions. After all this is my opinion, it remains to see what he does. He is well experienced and has always prioritised the Team’s interest so let’s hope that he takes a sound decision which will benefit the team.

With Kohli, the case is much different than that of Rohit with the only similarity being the lack of runs. And in all honesty his dry run has been much longer than Rohit’s, at least in Tests. In the past 5 years, Kohli has scored only 2028 runs in 69 innings at an average of 30.72. These numbers are not poor only by Kohli’s standard but by any player’s standards. If his name would not have been Virat Kohli, he would not have got such a backing. He has scored just 3 centuries in this period. The players considered in his league have mammoth numbers compared to his. Root with 19 centuries, Smith with 10 and Williamson with 12 centuries have all raced past Kohli in these 5 years.

Kohli had his fair share of problems in Tests in the initial phases of his career. The well-known lean patch in England in 2024 where his weakness outside the off stump was exposed to the world. But since that series, barring the home series against Australia in 2017, Kohli was phenomenal in the period from late 2014 to 2019. He scored runs at home, in Australia, England, South Africa. He scored centuries and double centuries for fun. 7 double centuries in a 5-year span is exceptional. But a lean patch of 5 years is too much to bear for any team. Even Pujara and Rahane had to face the axe from the selectors. Although, if you ask me honestly, I don’t think Kohli has to retire from Tests. Unlike Rohit, I feel Kohli can still contribute very well to Indian cricket in the longest format. He might have a few centuries still in him. But the issue with Kohli is that he is adamant. He is not ready to give up his ego, he is not ready to sacrifice. He wants to prove that he can score runs in the manner he has till now. He is not ready to show some patience and restrain. It was evident when he kept on getting dismissed in the same fashion inning after inning in Australia. Getting dismissed 8 out of 9 times in the same fashion tells you that the mental resolve is clearly missing. Kohli has to do something to get that resolve back.

For Kohli, the road ahead if he continues in Tests will be difficult as the next tour isn’t to a place he likes a lot. That tour has passed. Australia is a happy hunting place for him but he missed the chance to get back in form. Now there is Champions Trophy coming up but ODIs are not a problem for him. To change the course of things and start scoring runs, that too in England is a tough challenge. If he has an average tour, I think he is good to continue but if this series goes on similar lines as the Australia series, fans won’t be as forgiving. Even BCCI will have to start looking at options. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but only time will tell what the future holds for these two stalwarts of Indian Cricket.