When people don’t socialise or spend time with either friends or family, the risk of loneliness causing premature death increases by 39 percent. Fact. Proven by a recent international report.
Similarly, here’s something.
When the so-called fans and the cricket-obsessed end up saying anything in the name of observation, it tends to become incoherent babble- nothing more.
Also a fact.
Statements like Rohit Sharma should or could retire when the Indian skipper is going quite strong serve a case in point.
Recently, the dashing right hander was asked about when might he plan to retire especially since the top order now has Yashasvi Jaiswal truly coming into his own with Shubman Gill already playing exceptionally.
Time to go or No go, actually?
While some might call the timing of the “retirement” question posed at Rohit anything but helpful given the captain-batter scored marvellous centuries against England most recently, the mere thought of exiting right now appears little more than some misinformed punt.
No random-speak this; the recent numbers associated with the Mumbai-born captain of Indian cricket serve firm evidence.
In the recently-concluded five-game series versus England, Rohit Sharma amassed 400 runs. This included 2 centuries with a highest score of 131. Even his strike was anything but Test-match-like conservative being north of 64.
Fluent and focused, Rohit was easy on the eyes, always on the go and emerged the victorious captain in the end. If anything, the 37-year-old is the glue that binds the current team together.
What works for him is that he never allows pressure to get to him and even as far as possible, to the batsmen playing with him.
No big names- no pressure
Moreover, with KL Rahul sitting out injured and Virat Kohli unavailable owing to personal commitments, Rohit Sharma played well the part of a captain cool; utterly unflustered by the big absentees.
He hit multiple hundreds and led by an example. Anderson and Wood didn’t worry him all that much and he didn’t prove to be anyone’s bunny, sign of a real weakness.
On top of that confronting the usual “when have you thought of retiring” question, Sharma answered in the quintessential Rohit Sharma style alluding to the fact that he’d “let his teammates know when he doesn’t feel like playing the sport.”
Having said that, why must he leave is, in the first place, an utterly unnecessary question.
Glowing numbers in the five-day game
On 29 occasions out of his 59 Test match appearances, Rohit Sharma has either scored a fifty of a fifty-plus score.
Besides the natural gift of accelerating run-scoring, his inherent bravery with regard to facing any spinner or pacer make him an unmistakably brilliant sight.
Surely, the logic lovers that cite the fact that Gill has developed and groomed himself well to the Test rigors will stick to the point. And they must.
But the person responsible for guiding Shubman Gill up the order, soaking up pressure when there’s some is none other than Rohit Sharma. The person under whom Yashasvi Jaiswal Test debuted and cut his teeth in cricket’s highest echelon was Rohit Sharma.
The batsman who is the experienced connecting dot between the top and the middle order is Rohit, who averages north of 45 in Tests.
Guiding India’s next gen
While it’s clearly uncertain whether he’ll be able to represent India in the Blue jersey for the next ODI World Cup edition, excluding himself or being excluded in the Test line up will be a no brainer. It’ll be something as appalling as the sight of a wagging tail with the required target still above 200 with just a wicket in hand.
Indian cricket must thank Rohit Sharma for his services and for that penchant of hitting big hundreds.
Four of his twelve Test centuries have yielded a 150-plus score. His highest Test score, it being 212, came against a potent Proteas attack. Ditto for his third-best Test knock so far: the 176 at Vizag.
England, most recently, suffered the plight of exulting his night in full pomp. He took less than 200 deliveries to compile an elegant 131 at Saurashtra.
The age factor
It appears he still has something’s to offer a team whose youngsters are ever keen to learn and keener to perform. Surely, at 37 he’s not getting any younger.
But his stats and batting output are worth a mention and dominate discussion. Quite frankly, after 101 Test innings and 4,100 runs, the Rohit Sharma story still has a few chapters to be penned by its diligent author, the man who’s the creator of his own destiny.