For at least a couple of years, the Indian cricket men’s team has been described as one in transition. And now, it has transitioned. Rohit Sharma had announced his retirement only a few days ago, and now Virat Kohli too is gone.
In the span of mere days, the batting heartbeat of the Indian team for over a decade, a cumulative experience that stretched nearly 200 Test matches, over 13,500 runs, and 42 Test centuries, were gone. And if you consider R Ashwin too in this mix, as you should, you can add another 106 matches and 537 wickets, and, not to forget, over 3,500 runs and six centuries.
Their worth in the dressing room goes well beyond these statistics. For over a decade, they shaped the team and made it a world-beating side. Now they are gone. And the Indian team, from having to find a new captain and opener, and a lead spinner, is now also suddenly in search of its new No. 4.
Rarely have these many spots opened up so suddenly in the Indian team in over a decade. Transitions of course are rarely if ever smooth. India went through one just a little over a decade ago when the core batting core of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, and Virender Sehwag, all retired within the span of a year or so. There were anxieties then too, but very capable replacements found their grove almost immediately. For every Dravid, there was a Cheteshwar Pujara; for a Sehwag, a Shikhar Dhawan, and more. Virat Kohli had all but laid claims to No 4 on the batting sheet once Tendulkar called time on his career, with his exploits just a notch below in the order.
This transition, however, which will begin with the challenging tour to England next month, come with comparatively many more questions, and not that many easy answers have shown themselves. The least thorny is that of the lead spinner. India has tended to prefer an allrounder spinner – R Jadeja being the most favoured choice – to Ashwin in foreign conditions, and it will probably stick to this template in England too. Jadeja is one of the few individuals from the era that is passing by who has so far survived. But he too may not be around that long.
He didn’t start the series in Australia, and there seem to be more than capable replacements already in Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav. The question over who will perform Ashwin’s role as the lead spinner in Indian conditions will have to be answered only in October, when West Indies comes visiting, and it is probable that Indian will then look to give some of these spinners a longer run in this format.
Excerpts from “Life after Kohli, Rohit” by Lhendup G Bhutia, published in OPEN Magazine on May 12.
Read the full article here: https://openthemagazine.com/special/life-after-kohli-rohit/
