Opinion: Is Rohit Sharma the solution to end India’s Test opener woes?

2019 has been Rohit Sharma’s year. The attacking, talented batsman has conquered and dominated world cricket with his batting exploits this year. The format of the game doesn’t seem to have any impact on his performance. Be it ODIs, T20Is or Tests, Rohit has been India’s best batsman overall even surpassing the unsurpassable Virat Kohli.

India have been struggling in the past few years to lock down a perfect opening combination in the longest form of the game, who could play out the new ball and build a solid partnership. Many opening combinations were tried over the years like Murali Vijay – Shikhar Dhawan, Shikhar Dhawan- KL Rahul, KL Rahul- Murali Vijay to name a few.

Amidst all this, the team management seems to have overlooked Rohit for the opening position in Tests. He was looked at as a backup option in the middle-order in case one of the regular mainstays get injured or go through a bad run of form. Owing to continuous failures of the regular openers, India decided to try out Ro ‘Hit-Man’ to accompany Mayank Aggarwal against the Proteas.

What followed was batting at its best as Sharma just continued his fine vein of form from the ODIs and T20 format into Test cricket. The format and the burden of expectations on the opener didn’t seem to bother him. That could probably be attributed to the mental space he finds himself off late.

Change in mindset is one of the main reasons for his success, says batting coach Vikram Rathour

There was never any doubt regarding Rohit Sharma’s shot-making skills and his aptitude for scoring big runs- after all he is the only batsman to score two double centuries in ODIs. What everyone was curious was how he transfers his golden run of form in LOIs into red-ball cricket.

He had to work on his game plan and sort out some technical deficiencies especially the habit to poke outside the off-stump to balls moving away from him. Also, he needed to get into a Test match opener’s mind space where giving the first hour to the bowlers is necessary.

His scintillating performance in the three-Test series, where India blanked the visitors was enough to put doubts about the opener’s position to rest. Rohit Sharma went on to score three centuries including the double ton and his partner Mayank Aggarwal went on to score two centuries- one being a double century. A total of five centuries between them certainly bodes well for India especially as they look for complete dominance in this format.

But, will they succeed in SENA countries?

Quite obviously, the true test for the Rohit-Mayank duo would be the series in New Zealand to be played early next year. How can they perform in SENA countries? Just to bring to attention the performances of India’s openers in SENA countries since 2011, they have averaged a meagre 21 and almost 50% of the opening stands hardly lasted 5 overs.

The statistics speak for themselves, India struggle to put on a solid, effective opening partnership when they travel overseas. Rohit has played LOIs in all these countries and has been pretty successful as well. The confidence of knowing what to expect on those pitches could really assist him when he makes the transition into whites.

But one can be judged on what’s offered to him. As a Test opener, Rohit has had three successful games against an effective Proteas bowling attack. He played out the tough situations and in-fact bailed the team out of a tricky situation in the third Test where the team was 39-3. His partnership with Ajinkya Rahane was instrumental in India’s success.

Is the Rohit-Mayank opening partnership going to deliver when India play in SENA countries? The signs are promising so far in batting-friendly conditions. The ability to grind it out and score at a reasonably quick rate are common attributes that have helped them secure their spot in the team.

There have been a lot of chopping and changing at the top of the order, which should most likely end for the immediate future. But someone who had exceptional talent and skill was overlooked all this while to solve a big problem for India. Now that he has had such a grand initiation into the opening the innings in red-ball cricket, one can expect Rohit Sharma to build on that against Bangladesh in the upcoming two-match series.