India's loss in England: 'Deja vu' for Rohit Sharma

When Rohit Sharma boards a flight for London from Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in the wee hours of Saturday, it could well be a deja vu moment for him.

Less than three years ago, the 24-year-old Mumbaikar, then a newcomer to the Indian ODI side, had joined his teammates soon after they’d played a tumultuous four-match Test series against Ricky Ponting’s ‘Unbeatables’ in their own backyard.

A chain of turbulent events like ‘Monkeygate’ and ‘Bucknorgate’ had adversely affected the players’ psyche in 2008, but aren’t fairytales supposed to have happy endings? Yes, they are!

The Men in Blue fought as valiantly as King Leonidas’s Spartans did in 300 to capture the Commonwealth Bank triangular series for the first time ever. The journey that started Down Under witnessed a saccharine end at the Wankhede Stadium on April 2 this year.

Circa 2011 and the only variables this time are the opponents and the battlefield. England have literally trampled MS Dhoni & Co in the Test series and maybe a change of colours — in clothing, that is — is the only way out of such persecution. Rohit, calm as ever, can’t wait to join his pals. “I’ve been watching the Tests. A lot of people (read experts) have been talking a lot about the way we have been playing,” the stylish right-hander said.

He defended his seniors with some smart reasoning. “You must understand that we were missing key players. Sehwag missed the first two Tests, Zaheer never bowled after the first day of the first Test and Gambhir, too, missed a game,” Sharma said.

He wouldn’t stop. “It’s not easy to play a series without your match-winners. Would England be the same force without James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Kevin Pietersen? But yes, the hosts deserve for the kind of cricket they’ve been playing. At the same time, it’s unfair to crucify India after one bad series,” he added.
Back to Australia and Sharma clearly remembers those times.

“We played the tri-series aggressively. You could see it in our body language. What happened in Sydney was unfair and we were angry. We were treated badly. But in the end, we had the last laugh,” he recalled, before talking about the present, “It’s a similar situation this time. I hope we prove them wrong. We just need to play some good cricket and shut them up.”

All that bravado aside, Sharma knows he needs to let his bat do the talking. The youngster, who’s looking supremely fit these days, hit a purple patch in the West Indies. “Those runs (257 runs in five matches @ 128.50) did my confidence a world of good. I want to contribute to my team’s success in England too,” said Sharma, who missed out on a World Cup berth.

So how satisfied was he after the ODIs in the Caribbean? “The fact that I was named Man of the Series simply thrilled me. Moreover, I was able to finish games. Earlier, I used to throw my wicket away. That disease is now gone,” Sharma believes.

Rahul Dravid’s addition to the side did surprise all but what it could do is keep Sharma out of the XI. Isn’t he concerned as one of he, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli will miss out on a spot? “I wouldn’t look at it that way. The captain and coach know who’s in form and who’s not. My job is to wait for my chance and grab it with both hands. I won’t let any opportunity slip,” a confident Sharma said.

The Bandra boy has been toiling hard at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s BKC facility and he is hopeful India will bounce back in the second half of the tour. “We need to silence a few people and I’m sure we will show them what we’re made of,” he said.
Is it time for poetic justice? Maybe!