Rohit Sharma's modus operandi: Score a century when a gun is pointed at your head

"I got out in three matches only, how can you say form is bad after three matches? You guys put people in good form after one match, and if somebody doesn't have three good matches, you say he is in bad form," said Rohit Sharma during the press conference after scoring a match-winning century in the fifth ODI against South Africa.

Before that century, Sharma had had scores of 20, 15, 0 and 5. In the ODI after, he scored 15. When an opening batsman gets out that early, it puts more pressure on the middle order, but thanks to Virat Kohli's presence at Number 3, it hasn't been a hinderance. But then, what if Kohli decided to sit out of the game due to injury? 

There is no denial that Rohit Sharma’s talent is almost God-like. Nobody in the Indian side has the timing that Rohit has while playing quick bowlers and spinners. Sometimes, it appears that he has all the time in the world to play those lazy pulls over the boundary.

But the key word here is lazy.

If you look at the manner of Rohit’s dismissals in ODIs, very few have come from good deliveries. Most of them come from lazy shots. Two tweets by Harsha Bhogle summed up Rohit Sharma’s batting. “The white ball liberates Rohit Sharma,” Bhogle tweeted after the opener struck an impressive boundary against South Africa in the first ODI. Soon after, Rohit was out and Bhogle, tweeted, “And sometimes he sees possibilities where others don't and perishes.”

Rohit Sharma has an average of 44.55 in ODIs, with 17 centuries – three of which are double centuries. He is the only cricketer in the world, irrespective of gender, to have achieved this feat.

Now let’s break the numbers. In India, Rohit averages 59.71 with a strike rate of 100.11 with seven centuries. Outside the subcontinent, he averages 36.60 with a strike rate of 80.04, while in neutral venues (ICC tournaments), he averages 42.84 with a strike rate of just over 80. In all, his strike rate is 86.96, primarily because of that 100.11 strike rate he has at home.

Now, let’s do the math. While Test wickets have in the past few years become more sporting and induce a result, ODI wickets are still batsman friendly, except for that Dharmshala wicket where India struggled to cross 100 against a much weaker Sri Lankan cricket team. In that match, Rohit scored 2 of 13 deliveries.

Rohit will say that his purple patch began in 2016, after he went for nearly a year without scoring a hundred. Since then, he has scored 9 out of his 17 ODI centuries, which makes people think that he is an asset to the side. But the numbers in between are the ones that raise questions. He has seven half centuries during this period and 18 scores of 20 and below during this period. Since 2016, he has played 37 innings.

In Rohit’s case it has become a modus operandi. He’ll fail, people question his position in the team. Then he scores a century and people hail his heroics. Thinking he’s off the hook, he’ll play more lazy shots than what is expected of an international cricketer until his position is questioned again, and this time he’ll score a 200.

With the 2019 World Cup approaching, there will be questions raised on choosing the Best XI. And while Rohit’s name is at the top of the list, given the backing he has from his captain and coach, he may just play it. But if he is to be remembered as a good cricketer and not a flat track bully, Rohit will need to rethink his game for the betterment of the side.