Can ‘SKY’ emulate Hitman — will India miss Rohit Sharma’s calm at the T20 World Cup? | Cricket News

File Pic: Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma

MUMBAI: When Team India lines up for the National Anthem at the Wankhede Stadium prior to their T20 World Cup opener against USA on Saturday, they will be watching former captain Rohit Sharma place the coveted trophy — which he lifted on June 29, 2024 in Barbados — on the podium. Rohit is the tournament ambassador for this edition of the World Cup.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!While his selfless explosiveness as opener is being probably matched by another Sharma, in Abhishek, one wonders whether Rohit, who has been part of every T20 World Cup since 2007, will be missed more as a leader. Of course, under Suryakumar Yadav too, India have built up a stellar record in the shortest format.

In a pressure-soaked environment of a home World Cup though, Rohit, who often was the zen architect with excellent man-management skills, coupled with tactical empathy for his bowlers and clutch composure, will probably be on SKY’s speed dial during the course of the event.Former India pacer and bowling coach Paras Mhambrey, who combined superbly with head coach Rahul Dravid and skipper Rohit Sharma for three ICC events (2022 T20 WC, 2023 ODI WC and 2024 T20 WC), feels the current regime’s pragmatic approach is based on the reality that Rohit is not with the squad. “The question of missing him does not arise.”Mhambrey, though, hails the impact of Rohit the captain, especially when India ended an 11-year ICC trophy drought in the USA and West Indies. He also endorsed Jasprit Bumrah’s views of Rohit as a “bowler’s captain”, who allows the bowlers to set fields and steps in only when their plans do not work. Paras explains the reasons why he became such a bowler’s captain, despite being such a destructive and classy opening batter who prioritised impact over milestones.

“He was completely involved during bowlers’ meetings. When you’re the captain and are playing a World Cup, there’s so many other things happening. Yet, he gave so much of his time to the bowlers and to us as coaches. He was there for discussions. That gave us great communication on the field, knowing the captain was very clear with plans. The bowlers were locked in on them too. If things didn’t work out, he h a d o p t i o n s ready. And what really makes great captains is instincts to read situations and rely on an option which is contrary to the popular one.”That perhaps explains the way he rotated his resources in two high-stakes encounters in the 2024 T20 WC. In the defence of 119 in the league phase vs Pakistan in New York, he kept holding Bumrah back rather than use him up in desperate search of wickets on a pitch that had begun to ease out. Conversely, in the final, when South Africa needed 30 off 30 balls with six wickets left in Barbados, he used Bumrah in the 16th and 18th over, rather than waiting for him to bowl the 18th and 20th.Paras feels the bowlers and the team look for calmness in the leader when things are not going well, and that is something which Rohit gave them. “Rohit is not very expressive and exudes a calm body language. That dilutes pressure and stops it from getting transferred to the bowler. In that game vs Pakistan, despite him wanting the bowlers to defend 120 and look for wickets, he never looked desperate.”Apart from prioritising high batting tempo in the powerplay, the Rohit-Rahul Dravid era will also go down in history probably as India’s most data-driven think-tank. Paras conforms to that view and highlights how Rohit often called Hari Prasad Mohan, the analyst, late at night before games during the WC, saying he needed data on some player.“Another fab guy, Hari, who worked very hard behind the scenes. During conversations, he used to often tell me and Rahul: ‘Rohit called me late at night, wanting a particular bit of data.’ Just shows how much Rohit was thinking all the time,” Paras stresses.The challenge, though, in team environments is often making people see your point of view or buy into what plans you have. Data, something which Rohit was heavily invested in, was one aspect. How did he make others accept the fact that data is important and filter it in a way that did not complicate things? “I don’t think anyone told him that they weren’t comfortable with data,” reveals Paras, and adds that he had the gift of filtering information in a way that the bowlers felt comfortable using. “Maybe, individual X wanted to know four points. Someone else wanted to know only two, depending on what stage of the game he was bowling and to whom. He addressed both quite well.”While SKY has imbibed most things from Rohit’s captaincy style, Paras feels it would be wrong to compare individuals. “When you entrust a captain with responsibility, you got to allow him to function the way he wants. Not every game will run the way you want it to run, but as long as you are consistent with your thought processes, things should be fine.”

—Stats: Rajesh Kumar