It could have been his first Test century away from home. Those 17 runs Rohit Sharma could not make might be a bit more overwhelming for him to process, overshadowing the 83 he made today. But this is what Test cricket, or life in general, is all about. The misses stay with you longer and cuts deeper than your hits.
But then, there is no reason other than our inherent obsession with decimals for an 83 to be cherished any less fondly than a century. And Rohit’s 83 at Lord’s can be a perfect starting point. The number alone can’t do justice to the efforts.
Before this game, Rohit’s average away from home read 27.81. In a country brimming with talent, few batter are backed despite such abysmal figures. Rohit Sharma was written off in some quarters. A great ODI player, certainly, but possibly bereft of the temperament and technique to succeed in Test cricket.
Dominating one format does not necessarily mean acing another. The likes of Virender Sehwag and Michael Slater were champions of Test cricket, but could not replicate the numbers in ODIs. Similarly, Shahid Afridi and Suresh Raina, among others, never became Test greats.
Until 2019, Rohit belonged to the second league. His vulnerabilities against moving balls were well documented. He was too hasty for a format where patience was rewarded more than strokeplay, especially for opening batters.
Even when he was recalled for South Africa’s 2019/20 tour of India, not many were sure of what to make of it. Rohit had two hurdles to cross. The first was to pile up a mountain of runs in the home series. He did that.
The second, and more pressing, was replicating the same while playing away from his natural habitat, in countries like Australia or South Africa.
Since 2019, Rohit’s average away from home has shot up to 34.42, but the average does not tell the whole story. The past few years have been treacherous for opening batters. In an era when fast bowling has dominated like perhaps never before, almost no team has managed to find a long-term opening pair.
England themselves struggled to find a steady opening partner to Alastair Cook since Andrew Strauss retired. And they never had an opening pair that batted for more than five successive innings together since Cook’s retirement. Similarly, Australia have no steady options to pair with David Warner since 2015.
For India, the kind of solidity Rohit has provided in challenging conditions has been encouraging. Admittedly, runs have not quite flowed, but he has been part of four fifty-run opening stands in nine innings, in Australia and England. This is no mean feat, considering the kind of pace battery both sides possess.
He has displayed near-perfect technique and immense concentration in challenging conditions. An innings of substance was long overdue, and it finally came at Lord’s.
With clouds hovering overhead, in front of boisterous, hostile crowds, and against a legend who thrived in such conditions, the morning at Lord’s was as daunting as it can get for any batter.
James Anderson put on a masterclass of virtuosity, pulling off a blatant sleight of hands to get the ball to roam wherever he wanted. His first spell of four overs froze both batsmen on the crease, his inswingers almost trapped Rohit twice in the space of three deliveries, while K.L. Rahul gave an impression of a lone warrior with a wooden sword shadow-fighting his nemesis.
India were 13/0 after 11 overs. As soon as Joe Root took Anderson off, things became easier for Rohit, who assumed a more relaxed presence at the crease as Sam Curran came on. Curran has neither had Mark Wood’s pace nor Robinson’s height, nor is he as deadly as Anderson or Broad with the new ball.
Curran conceded the first boundary of an innings when Rohit flicked a full-ish delivery to fine leg. He picked up four boundaries in Curran’s next over. The third one had bravado written all over it.
A ball earlier, Rohit had been beaten by a length delivery that moved away after pitching on middle. He stood slightly lower for the next ball. Sensing an opportunity, Curran held his length back. Rohit responded with an emphatic punch, and 13/0 soon became 38/0. Rohit was stoic as a sage, never complacent, opportune to punish the freebies, but never greedy.
The flashiest boundary came against Mark Wood, one that pressed buttons, hooked the netizens, got crowds on feet. Wood stemmed in, stretching every sinew of his muscles to propel the ball at Rohit’s chest. The speed gun measured 93 mph. Despite technological advancements, the screen still fails to capture the thrill and fear of facing anything at over 90 mph. Rohit stood unflustered and thwacked it to deep mid wicket with disdain.
On 83, when his first away century started to feel imminent, Anderson’s in-swinging delivery found a way to uproot Rohit’s stumps. The wait continues, but given the kind of firmness he has shown for some time, it is unlikely to last long.