KOI ‘RO’-‘KO’ NA…

Why do we not address serious issues with utmost care?

The once upon a time deadly combination of ‘Ro’hit-’Ko’hli (better known as RO-KO combo) perhaps needs deep introspection for the future of Indian cricket. Rohit Sharma has averaged a mere 13.30 from his past 10 innings, only once passing fifty, while Kohli has fared little better, averaging 20.62 over the same period. That has formed part of a longerterm decline for Kohli; by the time the first ball is bowled in Perth next week, he will have had a five-year spell having scored only two Test centuries, averaging 31.68 by then.

But Gautam Gambhir dismissed such serious concerns over the form of star batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, but India’s coach did little to address the uncertainty lingering over the former’s availability for the start of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series. “More importantly, I have got no concerns whatsoever for Virat and Rohit,” Gambhir continued. “They are incredibly tough men. They’ve achieved a lot for Indian cricket, and they will continue to achieve a lot in the future as well.

“For me, the most important thing is that they still work really hard, and they’re still passionate, they still want to achieve a lot more. “The hunger in that dressing room is incredibly important for me. I feel there’s a lot of hunger, especially after what has happened in the last series.” Meanwhile, countless millions of cricket fans in India wished they suffered from a temporary spell of forgetfulness after the nightmarish drubbing by the Kiwis in the recent home tour.

Having said that, we must realise that the old order must change and the new order is due. As they say, even as we see, we can’t accept the truth. With the ODI World Cup debacle in 2023, we needed to realise that the Team India management had to pick up new talent from its enormously strong bench which is raring to go. However, the success we achieved in T20 World not only re-bolstered our faith in the old order and we preferred to stick to the customary lineup and then came the rude shock! We thought the bad phase of our heroes was over.

Teams grow from strength to strength and are also overpowered when the time comes. That’s the order of the day. The earlier the team management realises the truth and stops believing in stopgap arrangements… it’s better for Indian cricket. After having stuck to the usual line up and having tasted such defeats… it is now time for us to realise, reconsider and reorganize India cricket for the future.

Rohit’s uncertainty, at least for the first Test against Australia, is made to look like some that happened suddenly! Didn’t Rohit realise it earlier that he needed the break and the Team management could have dealt with the matter with much more transparency and dignity. The Fox poster on Sunday evening that triggered the controversy and by Sunday night the news was out on all forms of news format that Rohit was almost certain to skip the first Test.

And like always, we “needed” to do victim bashing and we are again at it. It is somewhat understandable that accolades do come with success and Gambhir had his share as the mentor for the IPL franchises Lucknow Super Giants and Kolkata Knight Riders… but then brickbats in India travel faster than superfast trains and Gambhir had his share of the barbs and bristles following the team’s declining fortunes in recent months. In his very first assignment since succeeding Rahul Dravid in the role, India suffered its first bilateral ODI series loss against Sri Lanka since 1997 with a 0-2 loss.

However, India’s victories over Bangladesh at the start of their home season to an extent helped undo the damage. However, Team India was not ready for the worst to happen and when it occurred… We did what we are best at. Yes. Blame game. Suddenly, Team India’s competitiveness under Dravid was completely missing and Gambhir had to become the punching bag. But to pin him down alone and also talk about his demotion is not fair at all.

Those who have been following Team India keenly would vouch for the fact this day was coming. Only that we love to ignore the truth as if ignorance is bliss. While India’s bowling unit, especially pace arsenal, had grown over the years and had reached the pinnacle during the ODI WC last year, batting lineup, especially the one which we used to swear upon had become prone to brittleness had botched our prospects time, time again.

Also, blaming Gambhir for all that has gone wrong is anything but understanding cricket. What about India’s poor decision-making – call to bat first under overcast conditions in Bengaluru, only to get bowled out for 46. Wasn’t that Rohit’s responsibility. Rohit had taken the toss and had a fair knowledge of the pitch and had a free hand as a captain to take call. So, in that case why not be critical of his decision and instead just fleecing coach.

Also, on the field, it’s the captain who takes the call and wasn’t Rohit directly responsible for setting defensive fielding patterns and allowing the Kiwi batters to build pressure on the hosts with a steady run pile up and for which even the legendary Sunil Gavaskar slammed Rohit on air during the Pune Test.

With the current crisis the team is facing, gunning for Gambhir alone would have an adverse impact on the team in general. It is time for the entire management to realise the pitfalls and select the best team. Names do matter, but let’s put form above it to set the foundation for a future.

The team management is too bogged down with what is going to happen in the World Test Championships rather than building the team for future. With current scenario, India doing exceedingly well in Australia and taming Aussies to a 4-0 score line to be in the reckoning of WTC perhaps should not be motive coz in current context it doesn’t quite seem to be realistic goal… though nothing can be said in cricket.

Also, in case Rohit is unavailable, Jasprit Bumrah will have to take over captaincy and in the absence of a sheer pace attack with Shami not in team and Siraj not in sync, Bumrah will have an uphill task given Australian tracks. Taking all points into consideration, India is in the midst of a whirlpool and the best the team can do is to be together & this is what Gambhir said, “We are not looking at what’s going to happen in the World Test Championship, whether we are going to qualify (for the final).” For cricket lovers, let’s believe that only change is permanent and that India will shine soon again.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

Robin Roy The writer is Senior Journalist and former Managing Editor, First India