Rohit Sharma announced his retirement from test cricket and said goodbye to a good career that was divided into two distinct halves. He was a very mediocre average striker for the first 27 games of his test career with a stick average of just under 40 years old. However, just like in ODI cricket, his fortune has radically changed when he was pushed to open for the country. From the 2019 visakhapatnam test to the 2024 Dharamsala test, Rohit – the test striker on average 50 and was not only one of the first openers in the world but also the main striker of India in the format.
The struggle outside India
Rohit had an excellent start to test career with two hundred during its first two appearances for India – against the Antilles in Kolkata and Mumbai – but then witnessed a major crisis in the whites for India. He only scored 1585 points during his first 27 tests at an average of 39.6. Rohit had a very high failure rate of almost 50% and crossed the three -digit bar on one occasion in this period – against Sri Lanka in Nagpur in 2017 – four years after its beginnings! Although he has always had exceptional yields at home, Rohit had shocking figures outside India, marking only 816 points in 18 tests outside at an average of 26.3. He did not have a ton outside the country. Although a great modern in the limited ladies’ cricket, he was at the crossroads of his long career and time was exhausted quickly for Rohit – the striker.
Vizag twins tons
Rohit made a horrible visit to South Africa and which was followed by a difficult tour below. The clamor of having seen him get out of test XI increased. With
His marasmus career, Rohit was pushed to open for India as a last resort. He turned out to be a master stroke. Rohit made the opportunity heard and how! He broke a ton in the two rounds of opening the series against South Africa in Vizag, becoming the sixth Indian striker to achieve the unique feat. The amazing performance gave birth to Rohit Sharma – the opening of the test – and triggered another chapter for India in the test cricket.
Domination as a first opening
From the Vizag test in October 2019 to the end of the home series against England in Dharamsala in March 2024, Rohit – The opening of the test – reached new heights and was among the first first -rate strikers in the world! He was the top scorer among all the openers in the world within this period and stacked on 2552 points in 32 matches on average of 50.03 with nine centuries and 7 fifties. Among the 15 openers who scored at least 1000 points in a minimum of 10 tests played during this period, only Dimuth Karunaratne (52.4) had a higher stick than Rohit during this period. No opening strikes recorded more tonnes than Rohit’s 9 in these and a half years.
Timing and performance context
The ascent of Rohit as a test worker coincided with a turbulent period for the Big 3 of India in the format. Virat Kohli, Chetehwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane had a bad race in 2020 and 2021. Kohli had an average of 26.1, Pujara – 26.2 and Rahane – 25 at this period and the Oneus was on Rohit to intensify and make the account. Rohit has dominated above all other Indian strikers within this period (2020-2021) marking 906 points in just 11 tests at an average of 47.68! Its 161 on 231 deliveries in England in Chennai in 2021 (India was 0-1 in the series) is widely evaluated among the largest hundreds by any striker on Indian soil. Rohit played 20 home tests between Vizag, 2019 and Dharamsala, 2024 and hammered 1633 takes place on average 54.43 and a typing rate of 65.4. No Indian has scored more points than Rohit at home within this period. The pace he marked his races was also significant because not only did he demoralized the opposition’s quisors, but also created enough time for Indian quisors to have the opposition twice.
Transformation abroad
While Rohit has always had a good record in India, the big change in his test career came to his performances abroad. He scored 919 points in 12 tests at an average of 43.76 with two centuries and five to fifty from India during this period. From his opening partnership with Shubman Gill in Brisbane and Sydney to his 83 in the massive victory at Lord’s to finally record his first hundred abroad – in the oval test of September 2021, Rohit the opening match knew of the stature and contributed to some of the most important victories of India from his home during this period.
Rohit suffered a major drop in its form in the last eight tests in his career and only scored 164 points in 15 rounds to an average of 10.93. These included two home tests against Bangladesh and three against New Zealand and three tests outside in Australia. However, its most important realization in the longest format was the contribution it made as the first match – increasing its game, under pressure when the tokens were broken for India between October, 2019 and March 2024 – a period when most of the other Indian strikers had the most trouble. And it is his biggest inheritance to the Indian test cricket!
Subjects mentioned in this article
