If there ever has been a forgettable point in Rohit Sharma’s career, it pales compared to what he is going through right now. He has just capped a year where his batting touched rock bottom as he averaged a lowly 24.76 in the previous year, his worst since his debut. Things went further south during the ongoing Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
Across six innings he batted in this series, his highest score is 10. He currently finds himself at a point in his career where even the shortest of slumps are magnified, leading to speculations that retirement might be the only solution to his problems. But Rohit, despite knowing his career is nearing its twilight, does not think he is done, just yet. Talking to Star Sports during the Lunch Break on day 2 of the Sydney Test, Rohit explained that his exclusion from the last BGT Test does not herald an impending retirement.
“This decision is not a retirement decision. Nor am I going to take myself out of the game.” Rohit said when asked if he is mulling over retiring from the format. “I sat out of this match because runs are not coming off my bat. There is no guarantee runs won’t come five or two months down the line. I have seen a lot in cricket that life changes every second, every minute, every day.”
But despite his confidence in himself, Rohit said, he has to see things as they are and act ‘realistically’. However, that does not mean he will succumb to what people ‘write or say’.
“I have confidence in me that things can change, but at the same time I have to be realistic as well. So life won’t change by what people with a mic, pen or laptop write or say. They can’t decide when we should retire, when we should sit out, when we should captain. I am a sensible man, mature man, father of two kids. So I know what I need in life.”
India’s survival in the World Test Championship (WTC) and retaining the BGT hinge largely on the result of the Syndey Test. Should they lose this game, they will not only be out of the WTC final contention but will also lose a Test series against Australia for the first time in almost a decade. Knowing what was at stake, Rohit made the difficult decision to voluntarily step down from the final game.
“I made this decision after coming here [to Sydney]. We had only two days between the matches. On New Year’s, I didn’t want to have this chat with the selector and the coach. But it was in my mind that I am trying my best but I am not getting the runs. I have to accept it and have to get myself out of the way.”
“The chat that I had with the coach and the selector was very simple: my bat is not scoring runs, I am not in form, this is an important match, and we need players who are in form. As it is, the boys are not in great form. So I had this simple thought in my mind: we can’t carry out-of-form players. That’s why I thought I should tell the coach and the selector what’s going on in my mind. They backed my decision. They said you have been playing for so many years, you are the best judge of what you are doing.”
The Indian batting lineup as a whole has struggled to put runs on the board on this tour. However, Rohit’s extra duty as a captain made him an easier target for the critics. There is no denying that time is running out for him. By the time India play their next Test match, he will be 38. For a cricketer, it’s most often a time for winding things up rather than starting anew. Rohit, however, has never liked to stick to orthodoxy.
