Squad announcement for Lanka series signals changing of guard

‘Kaun jaane kis ghadi, waqt ka badle mizaaj’ [loosely translated, who knows when time will change its mood] goes a timeless Mohammed Rafi song. It speaks a universal truth, but was a particularly apt fit for Indian cricket on Saturday, as chief selector Chetan Sharma announced Rohit Sharma as captain of the Test squad which did not include Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane.

About four years ago, finding himself out of the Indian Test team yet again, Rohit Sharma had said that half of his playing days were over, and he didn’t want to spend the remaining half worrying whether his Test career would ever take off. In 25 Tests until then in more than a decade of international cricket, Rohit had added just one hundred to the two he had scored in his first two Tests.
At that time, India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane had scored Test hundreds in Australia, England, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, West Indies, to go with 90s in Bangladesh and South Africa. Cheteshwar Pujara had scored more Test centuries in India alone – 10 – than Rahane’s overall tally of nine, and had a Test average of 50-plus. Along with Virat Kohli, Pujara and Rahane had already established themselves as the backbone of the Indian batting line-up.
Just a year ago, Rahane was the toast of the nation after leading a wounded bunch of raw cricketers to glory in Australia, having rallied them with a hundred in the Melbourne Test in Kohli’s absence. He had been welcomed into his apartment complex in Mumbai to the sound of drums and firecrackers. Pujara’s home record had always been outstanding, and he had now played a key role in two triumphs in Australia; it was the final seal on his status as one of India’s finest ever.

A little over a year later, Pujara, 34, and Rahane, 33, have been told selectors to play the Ranji Trophy, a decision about which it can only be said that its time had come. Chetan Sharma said the door is not shut on them, but the selectors want to give chances to the abundance of young talent that has been banging the doors for a couple of seasons at least.
The last time two long, productive batting careers ended simultaneously in Indian cricket was in 2012, when it turned out that VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid had played their last Test match in Adelaide. Laxman was 37 then, Dravid 39. But Pujara and Rahane are certainly not at the age which professional cricket careers have run their course in this era of sports medicine and fitness advancements.
It is worth recalling now that it was Rohit who had been set to make his Test debut before Pujara did, and years before Rahane did, in early 2010 against South Africa but injured himself during warm-up before the toss in Nagpur. He once called it the ‘biggest disappointment of my life.’

White-ball stalwart
ODI double hundreds, T20I centuries, leadership credentials burgeoning with every Indian Premier League title; four years ago, Rohit had everything a modern white-ball cricketer could dream of, short of a 50-over World Cup title. But although he seemed to have made peace with his stop-start Test career, he hadn’t given up on the desire to wear the whites again.
“ no means,” Rohit had said then. “As a child, all I dreamt of was to play Test cricket and that dream will never be over. When I started playing cricket, there was no white-ball cricket. We used to play in school, in age-group cricket with the red ball. White ball came much later. As a child, you only saw red-ball cricket. So, nobody can take away my game or what I think about the game.”
So how will he think about the game as Test skipper? Rohit has led only four times in 104 first-class games, three for Mumbai way back in the 2012-13 Ranji Trophy and once in a tour match in England last year. So, there isn’t much to go in the longest format.
He has won five IPL titles as Mumbai Indians captain, so there’s a substantial body of work. In the 2019 IPL final, with Chennai Super Kings needing two off the last ball, Rohit’s mind stayed calm enough to recall what shot his fellow Mumbaikar Shardul Thakur went for usually in such situations. And he and Lasith Malinga decided to go for the dipping full delivery. Thakur swung, missed and was trapped plumb in front. “Staying calm and being cool comes naturally to me,” he told this correspondent the morning after that triumph.
As soon as Thakur fell, an overjoyed Rohit had set off on a run, right hand and index finger raised in triumph. It was a reaction often seen when he was white-ball deputy to Kohli, and even when he had become a vital member of the Test side. He runs pointing his index finger at the wicket-taking bowler in a told-you-so manner.
Extensive planning before a game has become second nature for Rohit since he took up the Mumbai Indians captaincy in 2013. “I realised that it helps my game too.”
In that same IPL final, Kieron Pollard had lost his cool over an umpiring call. When asked how he handled such potentially volatile but vital players as captain, Rohit had said, “You have to identify certain players, what their abilities are and what they bring to the side. When it comes to performance and backing such players, there is no doubt in my mind that they should be backed.”
Player after player who’s done duty under Rohit has said that he gives them the space to be themselves. Hardik Pandya recently said that as a leader, he would take the passion that Kohli brings and the freedom that Rohit gives. In the common push towards a team goal, it is probably hard to essentially let people be the way they are. It is not what the previous captain was known for. But as Rafi saab sang, waqt has changed its mizaaj. The era of Rohit Sharma is here.