From the looks of it, Rohit Sharma didn’t look like he was going to retire on Sunday at Lord’s. Whatever the facts and speculations may be since Thursday, when news broke that the selectors had informed the former India captain that they were leaving, which was confirmed by Cricinfo, Rohit did not seem to give it much thought. Head coach of the Indian national team Gautam Gambhir. Once on the ground, Rohit headed straight to the playground where the teams practice, bypassing the usual field checks.
He batted for about 45 minutes, changing crease to Ishan Kishan. “Shoot it, Rohit” was a common refrain as he hit straight shots, lunged forward for square shots and quickly rolled back to counter the rising and fast drive of throwing specialist Raghu, considered by Indian batters to be one of the toughest players to face.
Against his good friend Kuldeep Yadav, who is likely to play his first match of the series on Sunday, Rohit often came out to negate the turn, dropped to his back knee to take the sweep and rolled back to hit it behind square. He also advanced towards Prince Yadav, driving through cover while remaining alert to any movement. There was nothing unusual about Rohit’s session. Unlike Virat Kohli, who is active even in the nets, Rohit prefers to do his job quite calmly.
But Rohit also knows how to pop the bowler. When Kuldeep bowled him on the fly with a googly and the weak edge flew past first slip, the bowler let out an excited “ahhh” in celebration. Rohit replied, “Kya aaaa. It was so much outside (of the stump).” Kuldeep could only smile sheepishly but soon came back strong, again beating Rohit on the run to beat him. This time, Kuldeep simply walked back to his bowling crease while Rohit adjusted his broken stumps.
Raghu also overcame his defense with “Very beautiful ball(it was a very good ball). Rohit again didn’t react much. Soon he completed his session, spoke to Gambhir and went on his way.
Lord’s has not been a particularly good hunting ground for Rohit in the ODIs, with scores of 15 and 0 in the two matches played at the historic stadium. While Indian batting coach Sitanshu Kotak termed Rohit’s returns of 11 and 23 in the first two ODIs as a result of the batter not yet finding his rhythm, Rohit will know he needs big runs.
On his way back to the main ground, Rohit dropped his equipment bag and jumped over the rope marking the surface for tomorrow’s match. Alone, he wandered back and forth along the strip. He then looked at the square foot (facing the Pavilion), rehearsed a dash in the direction between the Barrow and the Tavern stand, where one of the Lord’s symbols, Father Time, is located.
The mythical Father Time, as described on the Lord’s website, watches over the passage of time. Over its century of existence, Father Time has seen players leave the game on a high or quietly exit the game. Can Rohit do something memorable? Whatever the outcome, all eyes will be on him on Sunday.