Rohit Sharma’s legacy: An aggressive batting template that won India two ICC trophies

Like he did with the Test team three months ago, taking over the armband now from Rohit is Shubman Gill in ODIs.

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Nobody knew then that it was the last tournament for Rohit as the captain of the Indian team. Seven months on, that Champions Trophy, where an unbeaten India powered past every opponent – Bangladesh, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand (twice) – would stand as the perfect testament to Rohit the captain. For a captain, who modelled India into a modern-day white-ball outfit, that Champions Trophy in the UAE had Rohit’s imprint in every box they ticked. From picking a squad that included five spinners and taking the bold step to play four of them in the XI, coming out with a batting blueprint on the most challenging of the conditions, was all done meticulously. Having embraced an aggressive approach with the bat in the lead up to the 2023 World Cup that powered India to the final, to continue with the same intensity in totally different conditions and pulling it off was what made India head and shoulders above the rest.

Rohit as captain bagged the T20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy. Yet more than the trophies, what India would be indebted to Rohit was how he brought the much-needed clarity to the ODI outfit.

For two successive World Cups, two of his predecessors who were also serial winners in bilateral events, appeared confused with their planning and execution. It meant in 2015 and 2019, despite having the necessary resources, they headed to the events without a settled No.4 and ended their campaign in the semi-finals.

And Rohit, from the time he took charge, went about providing what was missing in the ranks. With a supportive coach in Rahul Dravid around – with whom he would indulge in exhausting planning sessions that went on for hours much to the frustration of other support staff – he went about building a culture without making any noise.

A castle was being built brick-by-brick and old foundations were shaken and dismantled, yet everyone bought into the broader plan. What the end product offered was a beautifully decorated castle that looked grand inside and outside. It is why the defeat in the 2023 World Cup still hurts. In cricket’s long storied history Rohit’s class of 2023 will forever remain the strongest team that didn’t lay hands on the trophy.

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Recalling Ashwin

Under Rohit, Experienced players were not brushed aside. Remember how he brought back R Ashwin into the 50-over World Cup at the eleventh hour?

Having identified the importance of covering all bases, he had called Ashwin a month before the tournament, asking him to be ready. And similarly, having been brushed aside by England in a T20 World Cup, for the next ICC event he was the first one to press for a major change of approach with the bat. For a batsman, who scored a record 7 ODI centuries in World Cups with a measured approach in 2015 and 2019, in the tournament he captained, he evolved into a batsman who would inflict maximum damage on the opposition in the first 10 overs. A batting unit that put runs as the ultimate metric, now had a captain who believed that modern era strike-rates can’t be compromised.

With Rohit leading the way, the rest seamlessly followed it. If it provided freedom for the next generation like Gill and Shreyas Iyer, he also allowed someone like Virat Kohli to be the batsman he is. The end result was Kohli ended up having his best ever World Cup, scoring 765 runs. Lifting the crown in Ahmedabad on November 19, 2023 wasn’t a moment destined for him, but as he said later, he doesn’t have any regrets. After that final at Ahmedabad, where most of his teammates had to be dragged off the field, Rohit was among the first to keep the emotions aside and head to the Australian dressing room to congratulate. Dignity while winning, class apart even when results didn’t go his way, Rohit, the captain was one of a kind.

All good captains are also judged with the sort of a team they hand over to the successor. While he didn’t get the opportunity to pass on a strong team to Gill in Tests, a year ago he gave Suryakumar Yadav a T20 World champion team to take forward. A year later, he now hands over a team to Gill that is stronger than the one that Rohit took charge of. There are a few decisions to take with the next World Cup in mind, but with the tournament exactly two years away, Gill gets ample time.

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On that night in Dubai, moments after the win was sealed, Rohit emerged from the thick smog, went to the pitch, plucked out a stump and indulged in a bit of dandiya with Kohli. That stump would now occupy a special place in Rohit’s drawing room as a souvenir.

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