India's Lokesh Rahul Shows Rohit Sharma the Way with Century vs. Australia
One of the most commonly held perceptions regarding human behaviour is that we're all products of our surrounds. Though some will disagree, and while others will point to exceptions, the view is that surround yourself with something long enough and it will eventually shape the fabric of who you are.
In that sense, India's Lokesh Rahul and Rohit Sharma stand both as notable and contrasting examples.
Rahul is a player who's bucked the modern trend. A 22-year-old who's modelled his game on that of Rahul Dravid—a man with whom he shares both a name and a long-standing, pupil-mentor style relationship—India's newest Test player has made his ascension to the national team via the almost-forgotten path of first-class cricket.
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As an 18-year-old in 2010, he made his debut for Karnataka in the Ranji Trophy. Since, he's represented his state on 18 occasions, and in 2013-14, played a starring role in Karnataka's run to the title. He's also represented South Zone at first-class level and has spent time touring with India A.
When he made his Test debut at the MCG in Melbourne, Rahul had never played a limited-overs contest for his country. Not one.
In short, his path has been a traditional one, not modern.
He's honed his craft in whites. Against a red ball. Across four—and sometimes five—days.
| 2010-11 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 105 | 61 | 21.00 | 232 | 45.25 | 0 | 1 |
| 2011-12 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2012-13 | 5 | 9 | 1 | 400 | 157 | 50.00 | 728 | 54.94 | 1 | 2 |
| 2013-14 | 10 | 17 | 2 | 1033 | 158 | 68.86 | 2103 | 49.12 | 3 | 4 |
Rohit is the polar opposite. The other end of the spectrum.
He's now 27, five years and 12 days older than Rahul. He made his first-class debut in 2006 when Rahul was 14. Despite being closer to 30 than he is 20, he's played just 67 first-class games. And not a single one in the Ranji Trophy since December 2012.
If he looked across at the opposing team, he'd also see the sparkling form of stand-in Australian captain Steve Smith—a man two years his junior with more first-class appearances than him and who still represents New South Wales in the Sheffield Shield at every available opportunity (see his 2013-14 record).
But that's not Rohit. Though not born and raised in the Twenty20 era, he's the most modern of cricketers. He's an Indian Premier League star. At times, a one-day phenomenon. The only player in history with two double centuries in one-day cricket.
One of the breed to have forged the identity of his game in coloured clothing and against a white ball. In frenzied arenas with cheerleaders, LED-lit stumps and questionable DJs.
It shows.
On Day 3 of the fourth Test against Australia in Sydney, Rohit muddled his way dreamily to 53. Rahul strode purposefully to 110.
The contrast in their performances was severe.
Rahul, despite playing in just his second Test, was full of clarity, knowing what was required because this is his format. On a day that started in an attritional manner, he had a clear method. One that's been proven to work. One he's developed precisely for the Test arena.
In defence he was resolute, blocking balls with absolute authority. In attack he was poised, driving, cutting and pulling with conviction. Though there were some shaky moments—a mix-up between the wickets with Virat Kohli, a skied pull shot dropped by Smith and his eventual dismissal—they were sparse in a mature showing from a player of a tender age.
At the other end, Rohit just did was Rohit does: He squirted defensive shots to gully, pushed ball after ball straight to fielders, never looked to push singles, never changed his position on the crease, was never proactive, attacked by going needlessly aerial and spent almost an entire session looking in a daze.
His boundary to reach his half-century was classic Rohit: Smooth but too casual, struck recklessly on the up, hit at catching height through the field and fortunate not to go to hand.
Those runs were the last he made. The next ball he faced he tried to sweep Nathan Lyon from several feet outside off-stump and was bowled.
It's often said about Rohit that he looks as though he's batting in the nets where the outcome doesn't count.
This was yet another of those days. Maybe he needs LED lights to stimulate his senses.
Earlier in this series, former captain MS Dhoni spoke at length of Rohit's ongoing malaise, per Sidharth Monga of ESPN Cricinfo.
"If you see Rohit, he has been criticised for not making the most of the chances he has got.
Even in the ODIs. But we kept giving him chances because we believe that he's an excellent cricketer. Once he crosses that phase, he'll be really good for the Indian cricket team.
Now you can really see that kind of performance from him in the ODI circuit. We feel he can contribute in Test cricket also. We'll have to give him ample opportunity.
"
In truth, it's easy to see what Dhoni and India see in Rohit. At the crease, he can look like VVS Laxman, like he's set out to be an Indian Mark Waugh. But Waugh, even the genuine one, was an unfulfilled talent. Dravid, who the young Rahul is looking to replicate, is the fourth highest Test run scorer of all time.
On Thursday in Sydney, they looked very much like those respective predecessors—Rohit all style; Rahul all substance.
Of course, there are so many who hope Rohit can become the player Dhoni and India's team management believe he can be. But the thinking expressed by Dhoni, the belief that "once he crosses that phase" he will blossom in Test cricket, is flawed.
For skills are honed through consistent graft, not suddenly acquired. And despite the wider view that things such as concentration, application and diligence (the qualities Rohit appears to lack) are some kind of personality traits, they're actually talents and skills—they can be worked on, developed and enhanced through incessant repetition.
They're just like a cover drive: Some people are naturally better than others but one can close the gap through persistence.
But how is India's paradoxical right-hander—a player who needs to work on such skills more than most—ever going to achieve that by spending the bulk of his time hitting white balls over short boundaries for six overs as a DJ drops his 83rd repeat of the night?
The answer: He's not.
If Rohit looked down to the other end to observe his partner on Thursday, he'd have seen Rahul reaping the benefits of taking a different path. A player five years his junior who was showing him the way.
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