No Point In Biding Time For Rohit Sharma Amid Batting And Captaincy Woes

Rohit Sharma averages 7.37 since his last Test half-century. [Source: AP Photos]Rohit Sharma averages 7.37 since his last Test half-century. [Source: AP Photos]

With the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Ravi Shastri and MSK Prasad impeaching Rohit Sharma within the last 24 hours, batting and captaincy form of the Indian skipper can no longer be swept under the carpet. In the general run of things, former cricketers are often accused of finding faults in current players in a bid to do justice to their media jobs.

That being said, the aforementioned names aren’t just former cricketers with respect to Sharma. Gilchrist not only led Sharma at Deccan Chargers but also endorsed him as their third Indian Premier League captain. It was under Shastri’s tenures as a head coach that Sharma flourished the most as a batter. Additionally, 26 out of Sharma’s 48 centuries for India came when Prasad was the chief selector.

Taking into consideration how this trio has witnessed Sharma’s rise in the world of cricket first-hand, they are well within their rights to direct attention towards his potential downfall.

2024 has been bittersweet for Sharma. A year which saw him ending an 11-year drought with regard to leading India to an ICC title in his fourth attempt also sowed the seeds of his toppling. If truth be told, anyone who wasn’t blinded by India’s ICC T20 World Cup victory from earlier in the year, isn’t at a loss of words for Sharma losing pretty much everything nowadays.

Why? Because the writing was on the wall from the time Indian cricket refused to learn/adapt/upgrade post losing 10 world events in a row, particularly the Cricket World Cup last year.

Is Rohit Sharma Causing More Harm Than Good To Indian Cricket?

Refraining from getting lost in thoughts of the past, it is imperative to observe issues of the present pertaining to the 37-old-player. Trusted to lead the team and create an impact as a batter with or without a six-letter word starting with i, Sharma is failing miserably across both the divisions.

Since the T20 World Cup, all he has managed across 14 Test and three ODI innings are 312 runs at an average of 18.35. If the three ODIs in Sri Lanka which India lost 0-2 under him are removed from this period, his 155 Test runs have come at an average of 11.07 - second-lowest among all Indian batters (min. 10 innings at No. 6 or above) in a season. In the eight innings since his last half-century in the format, his 59 runs have come at 7.37 in spite of desperate measures to accommodate him in the Playing XI.

Other than these low scores, the unexpected ways which Sharma finds to get out these days is concerning to say the least. Not only calling the shots wrongly but also calling them at the wrong time, a visibly frustrated Sharma just doesn’t give the impression of being in control on a cricket field.

As a captain, one can’t help but hold Sharma accountable for India losing a bilateral ODI series against Sri Lanka in 27 years and a maiden 0-3 Test whitewash at home. Been hailed for his lazy elegance while batting for the longest time, it is Sharma’s slothful leadership which is becoming insufferable with each passing day.

In addition to this, the fact that the right-handed batter isn’t able to do anything to prevent any of this is where suggestions have started to erupt about his retirement from international cricket. To be frank and fair, one feels that the suggestions shouldn’t sustain post this tour, or ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at maximum, irrespective of how the team or the player performs.

Having shared the Indian dressing room with former all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin 189 times (including 36 as a captain), Sharma should no longer bid time in emulating his decision to bid adieu despite the delay.