Rohit hopes to repeat 2013 heroics

Without there being any scope for innuendo, much less an indictment, the word enigma is the most abused when it comes to describing the pleasure and pain of watching Rohit Sharma bat. The inseparable duo that Rohit and the art of effortless batsmanship are, it becomes that much harder to fathom why he is not spoken of in the same breath as the other batting greats of this era. For someone who is so pleasing on the eye when on song, he can be a pestilent puzzle to the mind with his tendency to fritter away the huge reserves of his latent talent. 

In the city for the launch of Adidas’ new HomeCourt store, the 30-year-old vice-captain of the Indian one-day team looked ahead at the upcoming ODI series against Australia. Asked about the strategy the team has devised to keep the Australian captain Steve Smith on a tight rein, the Mumbaikar joked that the Indian players are yet to arrive and that the planning will start in a day or two. Keeping matters of levity aside, Rohit said due care will be taken to rein in Smith. 

“We know how dangerous he can be. And for us to do well, we have to make sure he doesn’t score too many,” said Rohit. Rohit was unsure of how to react when it was brought to his notice that his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan would be unavailable for the first three ODIs to attend to his wife, who is unwell. “I’m not aware of this news. And I’m surprised at this development,” remarked Rohit. 

In Rohit’s defence, the news just broke even as he was making his way to the media interaction. Rohit underlined his value to the team when the Australians last came to India for an ODI series in 2013 with the highlight being his monumental double hundred in the series decider in Bengaluru. And it was too enticing a prospect for him to say he wasn’t aiming for an encore. 

“I would love to repeat my 2013 heroics. But a lot of things have changed since then. I will have to start afresh. I don’t want to think about what happened in the past. This Australian team is not the same as it was four years ago and its bowling has changed,” analysed Rohit. 

Coming off a long injury lay-off that kept him on the sidelines for a good six months, Rohit’s enthusiasm to get back in the thick of things was amply evident. “I don’t want to take a break. As I missed the beginning of this season due to injury, I’m eager to play more and more matches. Sportspersons have a limited shelf life and we can’t play till we are 60 or 70. The selectors have adopted rotation policy so that we will get used to the packed schedule. We need players to be at the peak of their fitness leading up to the 2019 World Cup,” added Rohit. 

The Indian vice-captain reposed faith in the young spin trio of Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav and hoped that they will measure up to the Australian challenge in the absence of the more experienced R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. 

“From whatever little I have observed of Axar, he has done tremendously well. All these three spinners have performed well for their state teams and even in the IPL. These wrist spinners have the capability to conjure up a mystery ball at any moment and take a wicket,” said Rohit. Investing hours of time in solving Rubik’s Cube would be a worthwhile activity than to try and decrypt the enduring enigma that Rohit has come to epitomise.