The curious case of Rohit Sharma

Five seasons of IPL had gone by and the "under achievers" tag had been stuck to a team with a collection of superstars that would often fail on big nights. But came the sixth season, and the team saw itself change to a champion side that absorbed pressure and overcame it. Mumbai Indians has finally won an IPL title and are no longer under achievers. Everyone knows how events would normally turn up in an IPL final. An opposition such as CSK would apply pressure, and invariably the oponents would cave in. Not the case this year. (Neither was it last year.) For the second time in two years, CSK failed to clear the final hurdle. For MI, credit largely needs to be given to their new found leader, Rohit Sharma.

This leaves an interesting case on hand. When Gautam Gambhir captained KKR to their first IPL trophy in 2012, there were suggestions he was a possible replacement for MSD. Sehwag was in the race too, being the then deputy. But their recent woes in form have possibly left them both out of contention. It seems so unlikely that they would even be seen in Indian colours again. Raina has done well as a stand-in, in whatever opportunities he has got.  Kohli with all his aggression and intensity has shown that he is ready to take things over from MSD. Yet, temperament (or the lack of ) has left him in dire straits off late. For a time unheard, there was a steady rise of Rohit Sharma, deputy to captain for the MI in IPL for last 2 years. Failure of Ponting led to Rohit taking over and it has been a fairly tale since then. 

It is hard to believe that Rohit Sharma made his international debut as many as six years ago. Still not a regular in the Indian XI. But we may assume that some realisation has dawned on him. Perhaps missing out on the 2011 World Cup squad had stirred him into a better fitness regime. What followed was match winning performances against Westindies. But again as you would always expect from Rohit Sharma, a period of rut followed in Australia and Srilanka. Every failure weighed him down further and further. For all the elegance, he may bat like a dream, but a few failures and the shoulders will drop even more, and the give away expression will reappear. 

This IPL, he was in charge of a side comprising some of the best men to ever play international cricket and has succeeded as leader. He showed glimpses of MSD with his changes on field. Admittedly, he had an army of legends for a think-tank. While that means he would have never been short of ideas and suggestions, it could also have been detrimental, if he were hesitant to take his own decisions. Rohit is understood to have listened to everyone, and then gone by his gut feeling. And while doing all that, he also had his best IPL season with the bat.

As special as a player might be, he can only excel when he accepts and starts believing how good he actually is. And so he did. "I like to keep things simple and trust my instinct," he has said. "We have so many guys who have led their teams in international cricket and they're always there for me with advice and support. I get inputs from all of them but the final decisions are left to me." He definitely took vital calls on the field. No matter what you discuss in meetings it is up to the captain to come up with substantial moves on field and he did that to good effect. Holding your own among such institutions, and having a trophy to show for it, has to be a significant confidence booster for a young man. But can he translate that confidence into success as a batsman in the international stage is there to be seen. For now, (even if it is early) we may still believe that we have an able successor for MSD.

- DC

Courtesy: ESPN Cricinfo