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Strapped for time and runs, Rohit Sharma stays on the attack
MI and India captain faces a reality similar to what a lot of modern all-format players have encountered, T20 is a harsh format to regain form
On Tuesday, Rohit Sharma recorded his fifth successive single-digit score to the dismay of a packed home crowd. His last five IPL innings now read 2, 3, 0, 0, 7 and he has scored only 191 runs in IPL 2023 at an average of 17.36 and a not-so-impressive strike rate of 124.84.
Pundits have tried to dissect the root cause of the Mumbai Indians’ legend’s batting troubles. Virender Sehwag believes the problem is mental, not technical. Sunil Gavaskar thinks he needs a break from cricket. But the stakes are high if you are the India captain and the most successful skipper in the league’s history. So, Sharma battles on.
Last year, Virat Kohli found himself in a similar position. He scored three golden ducks and laughed at duck jokes on his franchise’s content platform. Kane Williamson, playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad last season, had struggled to finish with 216 runs in 13 matches at an average of 19.64 and a strike rate of 93.51.
The fast-paced nature of T20 cricket and the constant hustle of IPL offers no room to paper over cracks for established all-format batters. In a sense, you can only hope things click into place. Sometimes, as Dinesh Karthik had shown in 2020 when he stepped down as KKR skipper, they don't.
“What happens in the T20 format is you do not have the luxury of time. You are chasing 200 and you have to go after the ball from ball one or at least try and put pressure on the opposition,” said Sanjay Bangar, former India batting coach and head coach Royal Challengers Bangalore. “You saw what he tried to do against Hazlewood (vs RCB on Tuesday) as well, he jumped out first ball. Normally it is something you do not see from a batter who is not among the runs. But those are the demands of T20 where if you are scoring runs, you look to cash in. But if you are not, it becomes slightly difficult because you have to still make sure that your approach does not hurt the team’s benefit.”
Being the captain of an MI outfit that’s short on bowling depth, Sharma knows the pitfalls of searching for form in the middle. A run-a-ball fifty might help him find his bearings again but if it doesn’t lead to a competitive total, such an approach could prove to be detrimental to his team. Data shows Sharma’s attacking shot percentage (60%) this year, has been the highest he’s recorded in any IPL season.
His choice of ramp shot against Chennai Super Kings in the previous match when the leg-side boundary was opened up, led to his downfall. But that didn’t stop Sharma from stepping out against RCB’s Wanindu Hasaranga early.
“What I got to see from all teams is that they are taking a lot of risk and its coming off. That’s how T20 cricket should be played as well. Times have changed and you have to keep playing shots,” Sharma said in the post-match presentation.
In Sharma’s case, his poor form is representative of the good and the bad side of focusing on the big picture. The bad being this isn’t just a poor run of form. It’s the fifth IPL season in a row that Sharma is scoring at a strike rate below 130. Although his T20I scoring rate (139.24) is much healthier than his IPL career strike rate (129.73), his newly adapted aggro is yet to pay off.
The brighter side for the Indian cricket fan being, it isn’t a virus that’s percolated to his showings in other formats. The ODI run-machine has scored a quick-fire hundred and two brisk fifties in the eight matches he has played, this year. In Test cricket, he recently scored a classical ton against Australia in Nagpur.
But with the punishing and overlapping schedules across formats, the challenge is only getting stiffer for all-format batters. Particularly, if you are past your mid-thirties like Sharma.
“Rohit’s been playing for such a long period of time and captaining India in all formats and his franchise as well. It does take an emotional toll. It’s mentally taxing. In a tournament like IPL, the kind of energy that a captain has to spend towards planning and strategy may have a little bit of an effect,” said Bangar.
“He knows it and has done it for such a long period of time that for the sake of Indian cricket and MI, we hope he returns to his run-scoring routine. It’s very important for us (India) that he fires in the World Test Championship final.”
