Rohit Sharma has evolved as a true great in contemporary cricket during his glittering international career. Through his imperious stroke-making ability and astute leadership skills, the Mumbaikar not only thrived in all formats of the game but also went on to captain the national team across formats. But unlike his compatriot Virat Kohli, who enjoyed a meteoric rise in international cricket, Rohit took some time to find his feet at the top level. But once he got going, there was no looking back for the maverick batter, who is now an all-time great in limited-overs cricket.
The 35-year-old took Test cricket by storm as he smashed back-to-back centuries in his first two matches. But things went south for the right-handed batter soon after as he struggled for consistency. With his Test career in shambles, it looked ominous that Rohit will be remembered as limited-overs great. But things changed rapidly when he was promoted to the top of the order in red-ball cricket, just like how Rohit's fortunes changed when he started opening in ODIs.
Veteran India cricketer Dinesh Karthik, who has closely monitored Rohit's evolution in international cricket, shed some light on the reason behind the Indian captain's struggles in Test cricket.
"I don't think there have been many who've had a start as successful as Rohit in Test cricket from an Indian point of view. In his first two matches, he got hundreds... and then everybody thought this is it - he is the big deal and the fact that Sachin is retiring from Test cricket, he is the one who is going to answer all those questions for us," Karthik was quoted as saying by Indian Express in the docu-series Summer Stalemate on Cricbuzz.
"But life and sport as it turns out is never exactly what you think it is and there were a lot of curve balls thrown at Rohit over the period of time," he added
After a slow beginning, Rohit has gone on to score 3,137 runs in 45 matches. The decision to promote Rohit to the top of the order has worked wonders for the Indian batter and the national team.
"He has found answers to some, and he has not found answers to some. Rohit always believed that he had something to contribute to Test cricket. In the conversations that I have had, he always felt that maybe certain things didn't go his way," Karthik added.
"Sometimes, he played a reckless shot or two but he believed that he will come back. Interestingly, he didn't come back at the speed that he would and he resigned to the fact that maybe it's just going to be white-ball cricket for him now," he added.
