Apart from early morning media commitments, like the one at 9.15 am London time at the Oval on Tuesday, the other thing that
Rohit Sharma loves to hate is the word “talented”. It was used liberally to describe his game in his formative years. “I hate that word. Because it means you are just gifted and don’t have to work for things,” he had said in 2018.
Rohit was generously gifted in terms of picking length early. Hence, at times, in the sporadic appearances he made in
Test cricket, his dismissals gave the impression that he didn’t romance the grind of Test cricket enough. Caught mid-on, caught mid-off, caught deep cover, caught deep mid-wicket after glorious 20s and 30s. It added to the fans’ frustrations and helped his critics sharpen their knives.
As Rohit prepares to lead India in the WTC final in what will be his 50th Test, it was curious to hear him mention the word “grind” to derive success in England. “England, in general, is pretty challenging conditions for batters, but as long as you are prepared to have a good grind, you can have success,” he told the broadcasters during an event.
England has been both kind and cruel to Rohit. His ungainly lofted shot against Moeen Ali, when set, opened the door for an England comeback in Southampton in the third Test, when India were leading the 2014 Test series 1-0 after Ishant Sharma‘s 7-74 and Ajinkya Rahane‘s glorious ton at Lord’s. He was dropped from the 2018 Test series after having a great white-ball leg, where he belted tons in a T20I and an ODI.
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India vs Australia WTC Final: Players to watch out for
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<p>Several Australia players acclimatised to English conditions ahead of the WTC final with county stints but Cheteshwar Pujara found himself captaining Steve Smith at Sussex. </p>
<p>Pujara enjoyed a purple patch for Sussex that included three hundreds in six innings in April and May. </p>
<p>Pujara’s patient method of accumulating runs could prove valuable against a powerful Australia pace attack. </p>
<p>The highest score Steve Smith could manage at Sussex was 89, but he has a superb Test record at The Oval, averaging nearly 98 with 2 tons in 3 matches. </p>
<p>Pat Cummins and Mohammed Shami will both have extra responsibility in the absence of injured quicks Josh Hazlewood and Jasprit Bumrah respectively. </p>
<p>During the drawn 2019 Ashes series in England, Cummins led Australia’s attack with 29 wickets in five matches at a miserly average of 19.62. </p>
<p>At his best, Mohammed Shami gives India captain Rohit Sharma great control in the field with his experience. </p>
<p>Nathan Lyon has been Australia’s leading specialist slow bowler for over a decade, with 482 Test wickets at an average of just over 31 apiece. </p>
<p>India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is closing in on 500 Test wickets, with 474 at 23.93 from 92 matches. </p>
<p>Ashwin has a fine Test record against Australia, with 114 wickets at an average of under 29. </p>
In the 2019 World Cup, he struck a record five hundreds and scored 648 runs in India’s run to the semis. Three of those hundreds came against the quality seam-bowling attacks of South Africa, England and Pakistan.
In the 2013 Champions Trophy, his solid opening stands with player of the tournament Shikhar Dhawan formed the bed rock of India’s title triumph.
In the 2021 Test series, his 83 at Lord’s and his 127 at the Oval were batting clinics in curbing one’s natural instincts and playing close to the body. He scored 432 runs across five Tests of that English summer which included the previous WTC final vs New Zealand in Southampton.
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WTC Final: Indian batting power up against Australian pace attack
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<p>A duel between India’s formidable top order and Australia’s fiery pace attack could determine who comes out on top when the WTC Final gets underway at the Oval on Wednesday. </p>
<p>India have dominated, both home and away, the recent duels between the Test heavyweights, who claimed the top two spots after a two-year cycle to book their place for the final. </p>
<p>India have recalled Ajinkya Rahane to reinforce their batting line-up, which will have to be at its best to negate the Australian attack. </p>
<p>Eyes will be on Shubman Gill following the opener’s sublime cross-format display this year, with captain Rohit Sharma looking to lead from the front. </p>
<p>India will also be relying on Cheteshwar Pujara’s obduracy, Virat Kohli’s class and Ajinkya Rahane’s resilience to counter Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc. </p>
<p>Mohammed Shami will lead India’s pace attack, but they are yet to make up their mind on whether to harness a second spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin, with Ravindra Jadeja. </p>
<p>For Pat Cummins and Co, the WTC final is the first of three major campaigns this year, along with the Ashes and the 50-overs World Cup in India in October-November. </p>
<p>Fast bowler Josh Hazlewood lost his race to be fit for the WTC final, but Australia have a potent replacement in Scott Boland.</p>
<p>All-rounder Cameron Green will be expected to play a key role, but individually no one will have more at stake than opener David Warner. </p>
<p>Usman Khawaja has been in rich form, but Australia will be looking to Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne, to provide the bedrock of their innings. </p>
Like MS Dhoni, who gave his middling ODI career a lifeline in 2013 by making him open, Virat Kohli and Ravi Shastri‘s decision to open with Rohit in Tests at home vs South Africa four years ago triggered a renaissance. In 22 Tests that he has opened across the two WTC cycles, Rohit has scored 1794 runs at 52.76.
Hence, playing his 50th Test is a milestone even he would have been unsure of reaching, thanks to inconsistent early returns.
Rohit knows apart from providing a solid start, he also carries the burden of winning a global event for India, something that fans demand as their right and something people thought will come by with just a mere change of guard from Kohli to Rohit, thanks to his success for Mumbai Indians in the IPL.
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India road to WTC Final against Australia
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<p>The five-match India-England series was split with the first four matches played in August 2021 and the series decider – the fifth Test – a year later in July 2022. </p>
<p>Indians were leading 2-1 when the series had to be stopped in 2021 due to COVID19. India lost the Edgbaston Test in July 2022 as England levelled the series. India got 24 points from the series.</p>
<p>New Zealand managed to survive defeat in the first Test in Kanpur as India could not take one wicket to seal the match. </p>
<p>But India beat New Zealand in the second Test by 372 runs. Ajaz Patel’s 10 wickets in the India first innings was the highlight. India got 16 points from the series. </p>
<p>India won the first Test in Centurion but lost the next two and got 11 points from the series.<br /></p>
<p>In March 2022, India won the first Test against Sri Lanka at Mohali by an innings and 222 runs. Ravindra Jadeja’s unbeaten 175 and 9 wickets in the match fashioned India’s victory. </p>
<p>India won the day/night 2nd Test at Bengaluru by 238 runs and earned 24 points from the series. </p>
<p>Playing on Bangladesh turf, India won the first Test at Chattogram comfortably by 188 runs with Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel leading the wickets tally. </p>
<p>In the 2nd Test at Mirpur, India needed a 71-run unbroken 8th wicket stand between Shreyas Iyer and Ravichandran Ashwin to seal victory and win 24 points from the series. </p>
<p>Sri Lanka needed to beat in New Zealand 2-0 in the two-match series to clinch a spot in the final, ahead of India. </p>
<p>India drew the 4th Test against Australia while Sri Lanka could not beat the Kiwis at home, giving India a place in the WTC 2023 final. </p>
<p>That set up the clash between India and Australia and India got 24 points from the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. </p>
“Whether it’s me or someone else, even the guys before, their role was to take Indian cricket forward and win as many games, as many championships as possible. For me also, it will be the same. I want to win games, win championships. That is what you play for,” Rohit said when asked about the kind of legacy he wants to leave as captain.
“It will be nice if I can win one or two championships when I decide to move on from this job.”
If those one or two happen to be either the WTC final or the ODI World Cup, or both, his legacy as captain will surpass his legacy as a batter.
