Opinion Hitman signs off: For fans, Rohit Sharma’s Test legacy will be about wanting more

Make no mistake – 4,300 runs, 12 hundreds, 18 fifties, a highest score of 212, century on debut, Man of the Match, first Test, Man of the Series, first series make him among the best who have donned the white gear for the country. But Sharma would only come into his own nearly six years after making his debut. There would be a 30, 40 or 50 scored seemingly with the minimum of effort, but the swinging, seaming and bouncing red ball in the SENA countries exposed his fragility. It was, therefore, remarkable that the Hitman’s bat spoke the best when he was asked to take on the new ball. He had crafted colossal scores in ODIs and had acquired the reputation of a premier white-ball specialist. But Vernon Philander and the most exciting bowling talent to emerge in South Africa since Dale Steyn, Kagiso Rabada, would have challenged the best. Sharma slammed twin hundreds in his first assay as an opener, and went on to score seven more in that position, averaging close to 43.

Sharma was raised in Mumbai’s maidans. The youngster from Dombivli, who had to move in with his relatives in Borivali to be close to a maidan after his parents pooled resources and borrowed money to pay for the cricket training, caught the attention of the coaches with his off-spin. But Mumbai coaches are known to have a penchant for recognising talent. Among them was the renowned Dinesh Ladh – later a Dronacharya awardee. One day, when Ladh was reportedly late for a net session, he observed Sharma shadow practise and perhaps saw some of the languid grace that cricket lovers have come to associate with the Indian captain. When coaches in Mumbai see talent, they not only push their wards but also take a keen interest in their careers. Ladh and another great Mumbai maidan guru, Vasoo Paranjape, reportedly got Dilip Vengsarkar to watch the off-spinner-turned reluctant batsman tonking sixes. Rohit Sharma was a product of a system that has a keen eye for the modern game and, at the same time, is rooted in the textbook – if he could pull off the front foot, he would drive and cut like the classicists.

The historian Ramachandra Guha has written of the Bombay School of Batting’s fealty to technique and the ability to counter spin and pace. Perhaps, the changes the game has undergone in the last two decades have pushed the school to be more inventive, without shedding its moorings and Sharma is an exemplar.

Guha also talks of another trait of the Mumbai school – discipline. Its greatest exponents, Vijay Merchant, Sunil Gavaskar, and Sachin Tendulkar, had that in abundance. How did Sharma fare on that count? At Lords in 2021, facing an inspired James Anderson, Sharma scored eight of his first 48 balls, didn’t strike a four and then went on to score an 83. Then at Oval, with series level at 1-1, and England having a near 100-run lead after the first innings, Sharma’s patience was again to the fore – 127 of 256 in an India victory would have made his gurus from the maidans proud. There were also several master classes against the turning ball in Indian conditions, where he would cut, pull, sweep or dance down the track in ways that would have pleased the stalwarts of the past. But an abiding memory of Sharma would be that of him taking out the sting of the new ball in a serene manner, only to launch into a false stroke.

The 40.57 test average could have been closer to Sharma’s near-50 One-Day average. He scored at more than 40 in England. But that only shows how his overall average of 31 outside India does little justice to his talent. He hit 88 sixes in 67 tests – not one of them in anger. When timing met grace, Sharma was the easiest on the eye. When the two didn’t sync, fans were left tearing their hair in frustration over what could have been. Perhaps they were unfair. But players like Rohit Sharma tend to always leave fans greedy for more.

kaushik.dasgupta@expressindia.com