26 September,2016 08:35 AM IST | | Santosh Suri
Immensely talented Sharma, who has been inconsistent in the red-ball game, vindicates skipper Virat Kohli's faith in him to score a satisfying 68 not out on Day Four at Kanpur yesterday
Rohit Sharma plays a lofted shot during the penultimate day of the Kanpur Test against New Zealand at Green Park yesterday. Pic/PTI
Rohit Sharma plays a lofted shot during the penultimate day of the Kanpur Test against New Zealand at Green Park yesterday. Pic/PTI
Kanpur: The more you try, the more you fail. That's probably been the case with Rohit Sharma, trying to break the barrier between red and white.
He is a perfect example of a batsman branded as an ODI specialist who finds it difficult to come to terms with Test cricket. If at all he is still part of the playing XI, he has to thank skipper Virat Kohli, who is willing to back the Mumbai batsman to the hilt to establish himself in the longest format of the game.
In a different era, there used to be many talented batsmen who were masters in domestic cricket but could not excel at the Test level.
ODI specialist
Ashok Mankad, Brijesh Patel, Ramesh Saxena and Ashok Malhotra are names that come to mind. These players found it difficult to break the psychological barrier and met with limited success at international level.
Rohit is indeed a strange case of Dr Jekyll of ODIs who turns into Mr Hyde in Test cricket.
His exploits in ODIs are well known, being the possessor of the highest score in one-day internationals and the only batsman with two double tons to boot.
Though he did score centuries in his first two Test matches, subsequently, he has failed to emulate his white-ball exploits in red-ball cricket.
Indeed, it is more a psychological thing, and a barrier that is not easy to break. In the past there have been talented cricketers who were backed by the team management and given a long rope to make a mark in Test cricket.
Dilip Vengsarkar and Marvan Attapattu of Sri Lanka are perfect examples.
Talent in abundance
It's obvious Rohit possesses infinite talent, without which it would be impossible to be one of the best batsmen in One-day internationals.
Recognising that talent the national selectors and Indian think-tank have been generous with him and given him the chance to break that barrier.
The Kanpur Test is a first step for Rohit to repay the faith that has been reposed in him. He was quite comfortable in the first innings and looked set for a big score till he played a loose shot to be dismissed for 35.
With India on top in the second knock, he made the most of it by remaining unbeaten on 68 and in the process crossed the 1000-run mark in his 18th Test. He could well have gone on to his third Test hundred but India had to declare the innings at tea on the penultimate day in pursuit of a win.
Playing fluently and getting over 100 runs at Green Park on a not-so-easy pitch augurs well for him as India are set to play 12 more Tests this season. He can well cement his place at No. 6 in the Test XI.
