An ‘˜unlucky’ 13 greeted Rohit Sharma in the 2nd game of the Arise Asia Cup against opponents Sri Lanka. Even though the batsman was taken aback by Nigel Llong’s decision to give him leg before (Sharma was way down the track), the Mumbai batsman has failed to live up to the hype since his 209 against Australia.
An ‘unlucky’ 13 greeted Rohit Sharma in the 2nd game of the Arise Asia Cup against opponents Sri Lanka. Even though the batsman was taken aback by Nigel Llong’s decision to give him leg before (Sharma was way down the track), the Mumbai batsman has failed to live up to the hype since his 209 against Australia. Ever since ‘that knock’, Rohit Sharma has played 13 ODIs and scored just 304 runs with a strike rate of 68.77 with only 2 half-centuries.
During the New Zealand tour Rohit was quoted in a published newspaper, “My state of mind is really good, nothing to worry about it. I am enjoying my game and it is a different ball-game now.” The state of mind currently is on a downward spiral. Rohit does not look confident enough at the crease and is still not doing enough to please the selectors. The only saving grace for him for staying in the team would be that India does not have a ‘back-up’ opener. Virender Sehwag is out of reach and Gautam Gambhir, who is doing well in the domestic league, is ignored.
What is plaguing the Mumbai batsman? His overseas tours have been disastrous and some poor performances with the bat have affected the team as well. During the Kiwis ODI series, when India was chasing a stiff target, due to the slow start by the openers, India was unable to make inroads in the game.
This is not a new territory for Rohit Sharma. His cricketing career has seen many leaps and bounds and many cricketing brains feared that this might be ‘just another’ cricketing star from India. But since his double ton (209) against the Aussies in November 2013, everybody thought Rohit Sharma has come of all ages. He capped off a perfect 2013 with an IPL title, captaining the Mumbai Indians, landing the CLT20 title and making a Test debut by scoring a ton in two innings. That was then and when India landed on the shores of South Africa, Rohit looked a pale shadow of his former self. Runs deserted him in back to back series but still the selectors kept faith in him as the likes of Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh got the boot.
The Asia Cup would have been a perfect opportunity for Rohit to welcome some runs and get the self-belief back. But it was not to be as over two innings old, Rohit is still lacking the runs. Murmurs are now riff of him getting the boot in the forthcoming games.
Rohit Sharma is a wonderful talent, no doubts about that with the prime examples of Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh before him, if the poor form persists, the Mumbai batsman has to pay a heavy price!
