By Karan Agrawal 
India’s captain Rohit Sharma has been going through a bad patch since India’s tour of Australia where he opted out of the fifth and final test in Sydney due to lack of form. Things haven’t been the same for Rohit since winning the T20 World Cup in June last year following which India lost an ODI series against Sri Lanka for the first time in 27 years which was succeeded by the first home test series loss in 12 years against New Zealand. The year ended with a test series loss in Australia after 10 years which led to speculations about a rift in the dressing room between the captain and the coach.
The Concern
Amidst all the chaos Rohit’s form hasn’t been great either with the right-hander failing to score a single fifty-plus score in the three test matches he played against Australia. Let alone scoring a half century Rohit wasn’t able to score a total of 50 runs in the three matches combined. When asked about his recent form before the first ODI against England a visibly irritated Rohit said”What sort of a question is that? “This is a different format, different time. As usual, as cricketers, we know there will be ups and downs. I have faced that a lot in my career. This is nothing new to me. We know that every day is fresh, and every series is a new one. I am looking forward to the challenge. Not looking at the past. Clearly, you don’t. So I don’t have any reason to look at the past.”
The Reaction
“How is it relevant that I talk about my future plans sitting here where there are three ODIs and a Champions Trophy coming in?” Rohit said in reply. “The reports have been going on for a number of years but I am not here to clarify those reports. My focus is on these games, we will see what happens afterward,” The Indian captain concluded. India is currently taking on England in a three-match ODI series with the Rohit Sharma-led side winning the first match in Nagpur and currently leading by 1-0 with the second match to be played in Cuttack on Sunday.
Expert’s Corner
Reacting to Rohit’s comments in the pre-match press conference India’s former off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin said that as a cricketer it is not easy to cope with the phase that Rohit is going through at the moment. In the words of Ashwin, “This is not easy. If you look at it from Rohit’s POV, then obviously, it is frustrating for him. He wants to concentrate on the series. He thinks that I’ve done well in this format, and I’d like to continue. I’m going into the tournament with a lot of confidence on the back of the one-day tournaments that I’ve played. But people will ask questions. The ones who are watching will obviously ask. It’s a catch-22 situation. You can’t stop these questions. When will they stop? When he performs,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
The Wish
Ashwin further said that he wishes to see Rohit score a century in the series to get back into form before the Champions Trophy scheduled to take place in Pakistan and Dubai from February 19. “But as a cricketer, I understand what Rohit is going through. It’s not easy. I pray that he does well and scores a century in this series,” he added.