Tale of Rohit Sharma

Sachin Tendulkar feels Rohit Sharma has it in him to be India’s best batsman. Ian Chappell says Rohit should be preferred over Virat Kohli in tests; Gambhir too feels Rohit has all the talent in the world to be the world’s best batsman. Moreover Kohli himself believes Rohit belongs to another league and it would not be right to compare him with other upcoming youngsters (http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/story/568000.html). When everyone is praising Rohit about his talent how come he is not performing yet? 

Rohit’s first international innings was against South Africa on a seaming Durban during the T20 World Cup in 2007. In that very innings one could notice the special talent in him which everyone keeps talking about. The class, the grace, the art of playing the ball late – all of it was on display- he showed he has immense potential. In the hit and miss world of T20, he showed that one can play a well-paced knock by playing conventional shots. Here was a man who was so easy on the eye, no brashness about him. Sachin Tendulkar, Damien Martyn, Mark Waugh, VVS Laxman they all had one thing in common. When they batted they were a sight to watch. Rohit showed that he too had the potential to be in that league.

It was in the 2008 tour to Australia when it looked like that he’s living upto his potential with a wonderful knock in the finals to guide India to victory in the best of 3 finals. He wasn’t really consistent in that series, but he had shown signs of improvement as the games went along and he performed as per expectations from a young kid.  But from then on it has been a downhill journey for him. It’s almost 5 years since he started his career and he still hasn’t earned a permanent fixture in the side. Compare him to Virat Kohli who started his career a year after Rohit. Kohli has not only become one of the leading batsmen in ODI cricket but has earned his way to become the vice-captain of India. Four years ago few would have imagined this would have happened.

What could be the reason for Rohits continuous failure? Many cricketers believe that Rohit is better than Kohli when it comes to talent but it’s the latter who is performing. With Rohit one gets the impression he is just not hardworking and serious about his game. When you look at someone like Virat Kohli or Gautum Gambhir you can see it in their eyes that they want to do well. When cricketers talk about Kohli they talk about his work ethic, the effort he puts into his game during the practice sessions. Yuvraj Singh had stated that he wished he had worked as hard as Kohli during his younger days. We all know with the talent Yuvraj possesses he has really underachieved in international cricket. One can only hope that the same doesn’t happen with Rohit. This is something Rohit has to really look into, for all the talent in the world he has, he just will have to put in the required hard yards to become a successful player at the top most level.

One thing I have noticed is that Rohit’s List A record isn’t really worth taking note of whereas his first class performances is top notch. Probably he’s someone who is suited to the longer format of the game and is just finding his way through the limited version. Hes a wonderful T20 player but I think what happens to him is that hes not able to judge rightly at what pace he must play in an ODI game. Probably that’s something the selectors must look into before all together leaving him.

Anil Kumble wasn’t the most talented spinner going around in world cricket. People criticized him for not turning the ball. Some said he wasn’t a spinner, just a medium pacer who was very accurate. But he showed the world that if you have the passion and determination to succeed you will always do well. How well he fared is there for everyone to see.

Rohit’s continuous failure reminds me of one popular saying, no matter how much innate talent you have, the right attitude can make a difference in your career. Let’s hope for India’s sake and moreover for all cricket lovers around the world, Rohit starts performing and lead the light among the next generation of cricketers.

Posted by H 07:53

About Rohit Ramachandran Poduval
A Classical Leg Spinner, Writer and Software Engineer. Please feel free to add my Google profile to your circles. Connect with me on Twitter and Facebook