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The last time India fell 0-1 behind after the first Test of a home series was in February 2021, coincidentally also against England. Much like Ollie Pope produced an innings for the ages last week in Hyderabad, then skipper Joe Root uncorked a magnificent double century in the first of two Tests in Chennai to help his side pull off a 227-run triumph, not just putting England 1-0 up but also India’s prospects of making the final of the inaugural World Test Championship in jeopardy.
Enter Rohit Sharma to the rescue in the second of two matches at Chepauk. Having made just 6 and 12 in the first Test, the Mumbaikar unleashed a monstrous 161 in the first innings of the second, a masterclass in the art of negotiating spin on a tricky surface even on day one. In less than five and a half hours, he had subtly transferred the pressure back on England. India went on to complete a commanding 317-run victory, rode on that momentum to win the next two outings (both in Ahmedabad), seal the series 3-1 and take their appointed place in the WTC final.
It’s to Rohit again that India will turn for inspiration in the second of five Tests starting in Visakhapatnam on Friday. Three years back, Rohit was a senior batter, but nothing more. Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli and his deputy Ajinkya Rahane populated the middle order with the spunky, rumbunctious Rishabh Pant lending aggression at No. 6. None of this quartet is available now – Pujara and Rahane have been superfluous for a while now, Pant is still recovering from the horrific road accident of 13 months back and Kohli has taken leave of absence from the first two Tests. As such, the onus is almost entirely on Rohit to come to the party, both as the most experienced and accomplished batter in this line-up and as the captain of the ship.
It’s been a roller-coaster last few months for the Indian skipper. Determined to wrap his hands around the 50-over World Cup, he was the enforcer in October and November, producing one terrific impact knock after another including in the final, where the rest didn’t quite add up and Travis Head left India’s dreams in tatters. Rohit had invested so much in that campaign that he was emotionally drained and spent once the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow proved elusive.
He did pull himself together to help India square the Test series in South Africa earlier this month after losing the first match, then returned to the T20 set-up after 14 months to overturn two successive ducks with a terrific fifth century in the final match against Afghanistan. Rohit has blown hot and cold since the World Cup, but now his bat must start firing, and immediately, if India aren’t left with too much to do over the next few weeks.
Rohit hasn’t been his unusual creative self as captain in the last month; in Centurion, with South Africa 49 for one at lunch on the second day in reply to India’s 245, he started with Shardul Thakur and debutant Prasidh Krishna as Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj patrolled the outfield. Dean Elgar cashed in on the flurry of bouquet balls to race past fifty and by the time Bumrah was summoned again, the bird had flown. In Hyderabad too, Rohit was plentiful more defensive than normal, setting conservative fields even at the start of England’s second innings, when they were 190 behind, and guilty of ball-chasing with Pope allowed to sweep and reverse as he liked.
It’s incumbent upon Rohit, especially with KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja too relegated to the sidelines, to seize the bull by the horns. In Hyderabad, he got off to starts in both innings but failed to convert either effort into a substantial innings. Perhaps a return to Visakhapatnam will reinvigorate him; it was here that, in his first Test as opener in October 2019 against South Africa, he made hundreds in both innings and earned himself a fresh lease of life in the red-ball format.
Rohit’s captaincy is not under any threat, but for a proud competitor, the collective meltdown in Hyderabad will have come as a bitter pill to swallow. His captaincy has been compared unfavourably with Kohli’s; whether Rohit is aware of that or not, that’s unfair on a usually strong tactician who has drawn from his predecessor while still charting his own path and establishing himself as a strong, empathetic leader of men. Defeat in Hyderabad must rankle. Will retribution be swift and immediate?
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