LET HIM PLAY!

 

USUALLY in a mood to lighten up a press conference, Indian captain Rohit Sharma looks a bit flustered these days on facing the media. His anger, or rather frustration, is understandable as the questions invariably circle around his future with the Indian team. The angry response to one such query before the opening One-Dayer of the ongoing series against England summed up Rohit’s irritation and also conveyed to the media and fans to leave the skipper alone, at least till the ICC Champions Trophy is done and dusted. Rohit has been under intense scrutiny after his long patch of low scores in all formats of the game.

 

Even his return to domestic cricket in Ranji Trophy did not go as expected. He failed in both innings for Mumbai as the former champions were handed a solid drubbing by an unfancied Jammu & Kashmir. That was the only game Rohit Sharma played in the domestic circuit. But the string of low scores stretched further in white ball which has led to another round of scrutiny about the opener’s future in India colours. To be fair to the loyal servant of Indian cricket, Rohit Sharma has earned his solitude in the game till he takes a call on retirement. Growing age is certainly a factor for the Mumbai batsman, and his retirement from international Twenty20 has added to the speculation of an immediate end of career for Rohit.

 

There are talks about Virat Kohli’s future too. Both need to be spared from these questions and allowed to concentrate on the Champions Trophy. It might turn out to be a swansong for Rohit and Kohli from white-ball cricket and they must be freed from the unnecessary debates at this point of time. Winning the CT is an unfinished business for Rohit as the trophy has eluded India for the last 12 years. It was in 2013 India last won the ICC event and like he did by winning the Twenty20 World Cup last year, Rohit would be eager to make his last hurrah a fairytale ending in One-Day cricket. Despite the lean phase, there should not be any doubt about the tremendous abilities of the Indian captain both as a batsman and a leader. His aggressive style of batting comes with some dangers of getting out early but for Rohit Sharma it is a part of the game. He does not think too much about it and that should be the way ahead for the skipper in the Champions Trophy. For players like Rohit and Kohli, return to good form is always a few solid strokes away. One good outing would be enough for the two veterans to find their mojo.

 

They are from the same league which has batsmen like Joe Root and Steven Smith. Their class, their supreme skillset, and their abilities always serve them when their resolute mind plots a fightback. The way Smith is batting in Sri Lanka proves this. He was struggling just a while ago before the India tour helped him to be among runs. Smith is now making the Lankans pay with fantastic display of mind and method. Such is the speciality of top-class players. They just need their own space. Rohit also needs that breather from his critics and media. Let him play, and then let him find his own way back in the Champions Trophy. After that, the skipper can have another look at his whit-ball career. He has earned that right.