Rohit — breaking the shackles of self-doubt in typical ‘Hitman’ fashion Premium

Rohit Sharma's struggle and triumphant return to form in a single ODI match against England, showcasing his resilience and class.

It’s impossible to even venture into imagining what Rohit Sharma must have gone through over the last four months. What started off as one low score mushroomed into two, then four, then a half-dozen. His form became an issue of national debate; every press conference, understandably, focused on the lack of runs. It came to such a pass that, unprecedentedly, Rohit sat himself out of the decisive Sydney Test at the start of the year, believing his form as it was then didn’t warrant a place in the playing XI.

Throughout this depressing phase, the 37-year-old put on a brave exterior. He wasn’t feisty or combative, lacing his answers with typical humour – his closest friends will tell you that no one is more capable of laughing at one’s misfortunes without rancour – but one could see that he was hurting. Not because his place in the side or his position as leader was under threat, never mind the scrutiny, but because he wasn’t pulling his weight as senior batter and captain, in that order. Or maybe not in that order.

There are times when, no matter how hard one tries, the stars align in such a way as to defeat the best-laid plans, to scuttle the best of intentions. Rohit left no stone unturned in his bid to rediscover his rhythm; he hit the nets uncompromisingly, he returned to Ranji Trophy cricket for Mumbai after several years in an effort to find run-making ways and to serve the side largely responsible for where he is today. With absolutely nothing to show.

Rohit is a strong character, as one needs to be to thrive in the cauldron of unforgiving competitive sport. His pleasant exterior and a ready smile effectively mask steely inner determination and conformity to the high standards he has set for himself in white-ball cricket for over a dozen years, and in Test cricket since his elevation as opener in October 2019. As skipper, he believes in leading from the front, in setting the example so that there is no need for words and oral exhortations to his teammates to fall in line. These last four months must have been shattering, though at no stage did he question himself, question his ability, question whether the sands of time were running out on him.

Sometimes – actually, more often than one would think – bad things happen to good people. But then, the stars realign and good things happen to good people, too. As it transpired at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on Sunday night, in the second of three One-Day Internationals against England.

Rohit’s ten previous international hits, nine in Tests and the other in the first ODI last week in Nagpur, had produced a mere 70 runs, a highest of 18 and seven single-digit efforts, leaving his most die-hard fans wondering if… With the Champions Trophy a little over a week away, this was anything but ideal. The confidence that a return to 50-over cricket, which allows Rohit to be himself more than any other format, would trigger an instant turnaround had been dented in Nagpur where, like in Pune and Mumbai and Adelaide and Brisbane and Melbourne, his first mistake was destined to be his last.

Where others might have despaired, Rohit refused to be shackled in self-doubt. True, there would have been the inevitable gremlins – the Hitman is as human as any of us, never mind the sobriquet that paints the picture of a cold-blooded assassin (of bowling units and nothing else) – but to his credit, he didn’t allow them to germinate or consume them. He was seized of the need to arrest the slide, maybe even obsessed with that, but somehow, as he has done successfully over the years, he kept the emotion out of the equation, understanding that red mist and white-line fever have never been his go-to options in his 17 and a half years in top-flight cricket.