Is age catching up with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, India’s two batting stalwarts on the wrong side of 30? Or had the World T20I triumph re-calibrated their ambitions?
Cricketers vouch that once they wear the India jersey, the aches and pains disappear. They also say that regardless of the mind space they are in, the urge to do well for the country never fades.
There is no doubting these emotions in Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. These are proven performers, the best in business. It’s their beliefs and convictions that have taken them to lofty heights, making them deliver at the biggest stage.
But science scoffs at emotions and nationalism. It puts limits on the human body, and also the mind. The love of tri-colour, the pride of representing a nation of billion cricket fans doesn’t quicken your reflexes or strides. Even the fittest of men slow down and the most driven can temporarily lose motivation.
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma with T20 World Cup 2024. (Agencies)
Go back to the visuals of that magical evening of June 29 from Barbados after the World T20 final. It was a moment that Rohit and Virat had waited all their lives for. Virat had won the World Cup but that was back in 2011. Back then he was one of the boys, not the Atlas on whose shoulder the game rested. Rohit was one of Dhoni’s merry men in 2007 not the man of the house. His angst was more gnawing.
After the close win against South Africa, Rohit sat in a daze. He didn’t know what to do. His mind said ‘this was it’ but the body wasn’t ready to believe, it seemed. So what did he do? He plucked the grass from the pitch and ate it. Maybe, even that didn’t give him the idea about the taste of victory.
Kohli would shed tears. He called home, they would have known the importance of the moment. Kohli also knew how much the triumph meant for old pal Rohit. Like friends at college farewells, they would pose for a picture. World T20I 2024 was a Cup of closures and catharsis.
Team India captain Rohit Sharma with Virat Kohli after India won the T20 World Cup. (X | BCCI)
For Rohit and Virat, it was a triumph of fulfillment – a golden handshake to end it all and walk into the sunset with a sparkling smile. That evening in the West Indies, they had faces of those turning 58, walking out of the office one last time with pleasing thoughts of their kids well-settled and a hefty retirement corpus in the bank.
Rohit and Virat would announce their T20I retirement. But cricket is a strange sport. The three-format structure comes with that anti-climatic ‘ … to be continued’ rider. Cricketers say staggered ‘goodbyes’. It is done in instalments – T20, ODI, Tests and IPL. The order depends on a player’s skill set.
But after the night on the top of an open-top bus mobbed by a jam-packed Marine Drive and the Wankhede fan frenzy; Rohit and Virat would have woken up with a new mindset. They would have felt like Olympic gold-medalists after a day on top of the podium. After achieving the goals they lost sleep over and chased obsessively, their minds would expectedly go on ‘relax mode’. What exactly do you need to tell your mind to coax the body to leave the warm quilt on a winter morning?
India’s captain Rohit Sharma throws the ball during the day one of the second cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium , in Pune, India, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Just imagine after the World T20 win, the next assignment for Rohit and Virat was to take on Bangladesh and New Zealand at home. It was a big ask to be as motivated as they were during the World T20. At the back of India’s incredible 12 year Test series winning streak at home, can they be blamed for taking things lightly? To give them a feeling of invincibility, was the thrashing they gave Bangladesh – winning Kanpur’s rain-curtailed game in virtually two days.
So when New Zealand landed in India, the predictions were easy. It was presumed that New Zealand, having lost to Sri Lanka, would come and do the needful. Take the field, dutifully roll over, give India enough WTC points and give them a cushion for the five-Test series in Australia.
India’s Virat Kohli dives in vain to prevent being run out by New Zealand’s Matt Henry during the first day of the third Test at Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai. (AP Photo)
India wasn’t the first team to under-estimate the Kiwis, the innovative problem-solving islanders who constantly prove the world wrong. Losing the first two Tests and on the backfoot in the third, India now fear a 3-0 white-wash.
It could potentially be a result with far-reaching consequences. A demoralised India in Australia could be nightmarish. The World Cup last year showed Pat Cummins’ side is ultra competitive and ruthlessly punishes the slightest of errors.
But can’t the unexpected setback at home fire up the two main pillars of the team? Can this be the new goal they will wake up to? Wouldn’t they want to further embellish their sparkling Test career with another triumph Down Under and a WTC win?
It’s easier said than done. There’s a very relevant piece on the topic by former England captain and Sunday Times cricket correspondent Michael Atherton after a frustrating day on the field for the aging English pacer James Anderson towards the end of career.
Pune: India’s Virat Kohli walks back to pavilion after his dismissal on the third day of the second test cricket match between India and New Zealand, at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, in Pune, Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024. (PTI Photo/Kunal Patil)
Quoting the Aussie great Greg Chappell, he writes how the game gets harder mentally with age. “Experience is a double-edged sword: the more you know about the game, the more you realise what can go wrong … expectations increase rather than diminish: age complicates rather than clarifies, and one bad match has greater ramifications”. The two Indian greats might whole-heartedly agree with him.
After that forgettable and frustrating day on the field, that Atherton wrote about, Anderson would say: “It reminded me of when I first started playing, when you get frustrated and angry you try to bowl quicker and quicker and it doesn’t help. It felt like I was trying a bit too hard.” It doesn’t need a trained eye to see that Rohit and Kohli – during the New Zealand series – seem to be trying too hard and failing.
IND vs NZ 3rd Test Live Streaming: Second Day of practice session. Team India gears up for the final Test against New Zealand at Wankhede Stadium on Thursday morning.
Express Photo by Amit Chakravarty 31-10-24, Mumbai
After their ultimate moment of triumph at Barbados in 2024, Australia 2025 would be the moment of truth. After conquering the T20 Mount Everest, the aging eyes stare at the base of K2 with hope. After the humiliation at home, there will be doubts in their minds. What if they fail to rise to the occasion in Australia?
Trust an Aussie to put things bluntly. Talking about his final days as a cricket pro, Ricky Ponting had once said: “I had heard sports psychologists talk about the ‘little voice’ that sits on athletes’ shoulder … one that says you’re no good, that it’s not worth it, that you should give up. I couldn’t get rid of the little bastard in the end.”
In the coming days, the biggest challenge for Rohit and Virat will not be the tough-talking cricketing giants from Australia but that devilish ‘little one’ that Ponting spoke about.
Send feedback to sandydwivedi@gmail.com
I’m Manas Ranjan Sahoo: Founder of “Webtirety Software”. I’m a Full-time Software Professional and an aspiring entrepreneur, dedicated to growing this platform as large as possible. I love to Write Blogs on Software, Mobile applications, Web Technology, eCommerce, SEO, and about My experience with Life.
