Rohit, Shubman and the medley of power, patience and aesthetics

24, 39, 15, 13, 131, 19, 2, 55 

Rohit Sharma’s scores before this Test reveal what was wrong with his batting throughout. 

An average of 37.12 after four Tests in a home series doesn't sit well when you put these numbers against the face of Sharma. He was getting starts. He was playing with fluency. But alas, he was throwing away those starts on most occasions in the series.

Meanwhile, India’s number three Shubman Gill had continued to stumble in the first innings of Tests, always saving the good knocks for the second dig. Prior to this Test, in 25 batting attempts in the first innings, he averaged just 26.42 compared to 44.00 in the second innings.

When your opener fails to convert his starts regularly, and your number three can’t be relied on during the first innings, it creates a scenario in Indian conditions where you’ll fail to bat the opposition out of the game. You may still win at the end, but you’ll fail to knock out the opponents. 

That also happened in the series, as India’s top order had mixed returns. Even if there was a big opening partnership, the fall of one wicket often brought two in a short period.  

The best example was the Hyderabad Test, where India lost their first wicket at 80, second at 123, and third at 159. On a pitch that was quite good for batting, a big partnership after the opening stand would have ensured that India got more than the 436 they actually ended up with. Moreover, who knows, that could have also changed the result of the only Test that India lost in the series (so far). 

In the fifth Test in Dharamshala, however, both these batters not only ensured that they scored centuries, but made sure that the manner in which they scored effectively took India in close proximity to landing a knockout punch on England. 

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Rohit Sharma batted with immense control (91.5%) against spin, which Ben Stokes had introduced in the seventh over of the Indian innings itself. He took a special liking to Tom Hartley, scoring 40 runs off just 60 balls from the left-arm spinner. The skipper believed in his power and hit everything that was flighted to him mercilessly, not caring about the fielders in the deep that Ben Stokes had placed during all phases of the Indian innings. Right from the third over of Day 2, he was onto Shoaib Bashir, hitting him for a six and boundary in the same over. 

And you know what the best part of his innings was? There were hardly any chances given. It was largely a sedate pitch, and Rohit trusted the line of the ball and played it accordingly. Clearly, that game of patience combined with occasional-but-effective displays of power worked wonders for him. 

He didn’t throw his wicket away. He batted with power and, like always, easy elegance and aesthetics. It almost felt like someone had transformed the Dharamshala stadium into a lush green rainforest. That’s how easy on the eye he was. 

As if to highlight the aesthetics of his batting even further, his wagon wheel was also a thing of beauty, with his fours coming in all areas of the ground, resembling the different spokes of a chariot’s wheel. 

If Rohit Sharma was a combination of power, patience and aesthetics, Shubman Gill was all that and much more, with his youthful bravado sprinkling his brilliance on the ground like chat masala over chicken pakoras. 

Gill had begun the day on 26(39)*, and it took just three overs for him to pounce on England and show them the right way to Bazball in India. Guess what he did? He took on the grand old man of English cricket.

James Anderson can hit a good length even while asleep. But never in his dreams would he have imagined a 24-year-old, who was three when he made his Test debut, dancing down the track and hitting that good-length delivery over his own head for a maximum. 

That totally threw Anderson off, and he started bowling short outside as a defensive response. Gill hit that straight to covers. But the right-hander made sure to crunch the next ball for four. This onslaught was essentially Gill landing a sucker punch on England’s hope of making early inroads on Day 2. 

After Anderson, Gill targeted Bashir by judging his line and length immaculately and gallivanting down the track and lifting him into the mountains for three maximums. 

In between, he kept taking his singles and doubles to ensure that India, apart from being in the lead by the time he got out, pulverised England by the end of the first session. 

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When the second session started, it took two absolute jaffas from Stokes and Anderson to get Rohit and Gill out. However, the two batters had done their job. India were commanding the game, and both of them had risen from their falls in the series, showing real-time improvement. It might have come in the last game in the series, but with 452 and 400 runs in the series, respectively, Gill and Rohit can return home more than satisfied.

Better late than never, as they say!