Patient, responsible Rohit helping India pass every test!

India`s batter Rohit Sharma plays a shot during the second day of the fifth Test cricket match between India and England, in Dharamsala, Friday, March 8, 2024. Pic/PTI

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill proved to be double trouble for England on the Day Two of the final Test here on Thursday.

Any hope the visitors had of making a comeback by getting the two overnight Indian batsmen out early, quickly disappeared after the first hour or so and the duo went on to score impressive centuries.

Rohit, not for the first time in the series, played a patient and responsible knock, much like he did in the third Test at Rajkot. He eschewed extravagant strokes knowing well that the middle order is inexperienced in the absence of senior pros Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. He took the responsibility of laying the foundation for a substantial lead in the company of Gill. With both registering their second century of the series, they've given the hosts a big advantage.

Also Read: IND vs ENG 5th Test: India continues to show their prowess with the bat

There are two distinct facets of Rohit's batting in international cricket: flashy and carefree in the white-ball version and circumspect and responsible in Tests. Only a player with immense talent and character can shift from one format to another with consummate ease. But it has not always been a bed of roses for him. For six years after he made his ODI debut in 2007, he was not considered good enough for Test. He kept getting runs in ODIs and the T20Is, but a berth in Test XI remained elusive. In fact, he had played a record 108 ODIs before he finally got a call-up for the two-Test series against the West Indies in 2013. He hammered a grand 177 on Test debut at Kolkata and followed it with an unbeaten 111 at home in Mumbai and hasn't looked back since.

Rohit's batting as well as his captaincy has matured with every game. He has reached a stage in his career where, in the absence of top batters like Kohli and Rahul, he has taken over the mantle of not only providing solidity to an inexperienced batting line-up, but also of guiding young guns like Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan and Dhruv Jurel to give off their best.

It is under Rohit's tutelage and encouragement that Jaiswal has got over 700 runs in the current series. Gill, who was struggling for runs, now has two tons in this series, while Sarfaraz and Jurel have also shown great maturity in handling pressure situations.

Before the start of the fifth Test, Rohit had spoken about the challenges of captaincy and how he successfully negotiates them: "I'm enjoying this period of leading the team. I was challenged as a captain as well and when you are playing a series like this, you are bound to lose a match or two. Whenever I lead the team, I try to keep it very simple. That's always been my focus to not try and do something weird because it's a longer version of the game and you need to keep patience. You need to be able to make the right decisions and for that, you need to stay calm. These are things I think of when I'm captaining the team."