Rohit Sharma Faces His First Major Test as All-Format Captain

When Virat Kohli stepped down as the Test Captain in January 2022 it was clear that Rohit Sharma will get the role as India’s captain across formats. At 35, he was stepping into a big role as the Indian Captain with the Rohit Sharma era beginning. However, an year on, the question of has the Rohit Sharma era begun remains.

From the time of his appointment, Rohit Sharma saw himself miss out on a fair bit of cricket. He was rested in a large number of white-ball games over last year, and injuries made his Test Captaincy Start rather sputtered. After playing a central role in England, in 2021, winning the man of the match award at the Oval, Rohit Sharma went on to miss eight out of the next ten games. He missed the South Africa tour, under Virat Kohli’s captaincy to injury, and the rescheduled fifth Test due to Covid. He also missed the Bangladesh Tests in late 2022 due to a finger injury.

Over this period, India’s ability to threaten opponents overseas fell away. They lost Tests that should have been in their pocket with disappointing defeats in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Birmingham. Rohit Sharma, who transformed his Test Career after becoming an opener in 2019 was an absent head in all of them.

In White-ball cricket, despite being rested on a few occasions, Rohit Sharma had his chances. His win-loss record has been good, and in bilateral cricket too Rohit Sharma has a decent record. The 10 wicket defeat to England in the recent T20 World Cup was a huge loss, but the overall performance in the World Cup remains laudable, especially after India failed to get past the group stage in the previous edition.

However, both Rohit Sharma and coach Rahul Dravid are aware of how one bad moment can define your tenure. In Rahul Dravid’s own time as captain, a disastrous 2007 World Cup undid all his efforts to help turn India into a confident chasing team, who could go after targets past 270, with ease back in the day. Coming to Rohit Sharma’s captaincy again, the fact that he has succeeded Virat Kohli itself is a talking point. When it comes to white-ball cricket, Rohit Sharma has the credentials with five IPL Titles.

However, in Test Cricket, Virat Kohli transformed the Indian Team into World Beaters. They were competitive in any conditions, and the fast bowlers improved wildly in his captaincy period. Fitness standards too went up. Tournament results though did not go his way. in Rohit Sharma’s case, he has led the side in one World Event, and in the coming months he will have two more chances to take India to World Glory.

An year into his tenure though, Rohit Sharma’s leadership is already in threat. Hardik Pandya, who has led India after the T20 World Cup, is coming up as a huge option for the T20 side. In ODI Cricket, his and India’s performance in the World Cup could determine his future. In Test Cricket though his tenure has hardly begun. He has only led India in Two Tests against Sri Lanka early last year.

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Now, Rohit Sharma has a chance to take the Test side into a high-profile contest. The previous meeting between the two in India, back in 2016-2017 went down as one of the best meetings between the two. Now, the Australian team has a lot more quality then six years ago, leaving more chances of competitive cricket. India though still have a formidable spin attack, and good pace bowlers. They are hit by injuries though. Rishabh Pant is out of the series, Shreyas Iyer is injured and Jasprit Bumrah remains absent.

When it comes to the current squad, both pillars of the batting line-up, Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara remain scratchy. Rohit Sharma, who has not played red-ball Cricket in a while remains uncertain with his own rhythm. With the core of the Indian Team into the mid-30s there is a sense of dread and uncertainty as a huge transition seems likely in the coming years.

Rohit Sharma, tasked with managing one of India’s best groups of Test Cricketers has a task on hand with a transition likely to fall into his hands too. With four crucial Tests ahead, and with India needing to win at least three to guarantee a place in the WTC Final, Rohit Sharma’s Test Captaincy hinges on good results. If things do not go to plan, his tenure could be a short one, and if they do he could be around to see some really big challenges in the coming months.

His batting remains a crucial factor too. His elegance and ability against both spin and pace leaves Rohit Sharma the batter as a key part of the tournament. His 161 in Chennai earlier in 2021, on a turning track remains one of his best knocks, and probably his best in Test Cricket. With slow tracks likely, Rohit Sharma will want to replicate such knocks in the next few weeks.