Grace under Fire

To be overlooked for the 2011 50-over World Cup at home was a massive blow for Rohit. That disappointment mounted as India were crowned champions on 2 April at the Wankhede Stadium in Rohit’s hometown of Mumbai. Once he got over that omission, Rohit chose to use it as a springboard to greater things instead of moaning and cribbing about how he had been hard done by.

‘He was disappointed, yes,’ observes Abhishek Nayar, Rohit’s long-time friend and Mumbai teammate, ‘but it was more anger and, you know, “Come on, let’s show them, let me get fitter, let me work harder.”’ Armed with fierce determination, Rohit managed to work his way up the batting order to the opening slot by January 2013.

Vikram Rathour, India’s batting coach between 2019 and 2024, was part of the national selection panel from 2012 to 2016, which would eventually trigger the rise of Rohit as a prodigious white-ball opener. ‘He was always a special player and so everybody wanted him to play, at whatever number,’ recalls Rathour. ‘Basically, the decision of him opening came from the team management. And, as selectors, we completely backed it; we agreed that we should try this.

‘Once he started opening, he had a phenomenal time. It just changed everything, there was no looking back. And what I feel is that eventually, even though it was more than six and a half years later, that was what created the pressure for him to open in Test matches as well.’

ODI World Cup Debut

Rohit had to wait until 15 February 2015, more than seven and a half years after his One-Day International debut, to play his first 50-over World Cup game. Fittingly enough, it was a marquee contest, against Pakistan at the Adelaide Oval. India hadn’t lost to Pakistan in five World Cup head-to-heads until then, starting from Sydney in 1992. It was essential that they keep the 100 per cent record going, and that Rohit and his equally attacking opening partner, the left-handed Shikhar Dhawan, set the tone.

In preparation for the World Cup, India had been involved in a triangular series against the host nation and England. Their opening outing had been against Australia at the MCG where Rohit made a typically brilliant 138, accounting for more than half of India’s tally of 267 for eight. Only Suresh Raina of the rest topped 20 and India paid the penalty for a tepid batting display with Aaron Finch playing the lead role in Australia’s comfortable four-wicket victory. But it wasn’t so much the result that worried the Indians.

Rohit picked up an unfortunate hamstring injury during that knock that ended his interest in the tri-series. India failed to make it to the final as their World Cup preparations took a massive hit. But, as dispiriting as that was, the bigger concern was around Rohit and whether he would recover in time to take his place in the playing XI against Pakistan.

Fortunately, Rohit’s rehab went according to plan and he took his appointed place at the top of the order beside Dhawan. But it wasn’t quite a debut to remember. One of the criticisms of Rohit at that stage was shot-selection, be it in Tests or the limited-overs formats, and his dismissal to a premeditated pull against Sohail Khan, the right-arm quick, when the ball wasn’t short enough for the stroke, attracted due criticism. Rohit’s contribution to an opening stand of 34 was a 20-ball 15, but with half-centuries from Dhawan and Raina bookending a measured 107 from Virat Kohli, India amassed 300 for seven and ended up trooping home as comfortable victors by 76 runs.

His tournament went from bad to worse a week later at the MCG when he was dismissed for nought, run out at the bowler’s end after having set out looking for a non-existent single and being sent back by Dhawan. As he trudged off, distraught, he must have thought what more he needed to do to make his World Cup appearances count. After all, by then, he already had made two ODI double-tons to go with numerous centuries.

When would his World Cup jinx end?

‘One of the things that really struck me at that time, and even later when Rohit wasn’t quite doing justice to his ability in Test cricket, is that we all were saying, “Oh, why is he not performing? Why is he not performing?” You know, nobody ever said it’s time for him to be replaced. Nobody felt that, which is very strange in India, isn’t it?’ W.V. Raman wonders. ‘Because we are very quick to discard people. But Rohit touched a chord in people even before he became the giant he is today. It was just a case of the breakout happening. Not even the biggest of his detractors said it was time for him to be replaced.

The World Cup Take-off

Rohit’s World Cup career finally took off against UAE on a bouncy WACA strip in Perth that facilitated his stirring backfoot play even though he didn’t have too much pace to work with. An unbeaten 57 set him up for the tournament ahead and he backed it up with 64 against Ireland in Hamilton but truly sprung to life in the quarterfinals against Bangladesh at the MCG, the venue of his last international century two months ago.

Bangladesh had pulled off a huge coup by putting England out of the tournament and making it to the knockout phase; England were to recalibrate their approach to the white-ball game following their humiliating first-round exit and go on to sing the redemption song four years later when they won the World Cup on home soil for the first time. But once they were sent packing, and it became clear that Bangladesh would be India’s opponents in the last-eight stage, a majority felt India’s presence in the semifinals was but a mere formality.

Until that point, Rohit had played only five ODIs against Bangladesh, with the modest total of 73 runs and a highest of 26. He did approach the 19 March quarterfinal with two half-centuries in his last four knocks in the World Cup, but he hadn’t quite made the kind of impression he would have liked. Rohit couldn’t have chosen a more appropriate occasion to make his first World Cup hundred—in his first knockout game—though it wasn’t without controversy.

Rohit had no direct role in the drama that unfolded at the MCG, apart from being the batter at the time. He had made his way to a sedate 90 off 101 deliveries when he tonked a full toss from Rubel Hossain down the throat of deep mid-wicket. Even as the Bangladeshis celebrated his ‘fall’ at a vital stage of the game—with the death overs approaching and India seeking to bat them out of the game—on-field umpires Aleem Dar and Ian Gould

ruled that the delivery was illegitimate because the full toss was above the waist. Subsequent replays suggested otherwise, but the decision stood and Rohit went on to keep his tryst with three-figures, eventually falling for a superb 137 off 126 deliveries.

It was largely due to his effort that India amassed 302 for six and pulled off a comfortable 109-run victory, but the aftershocks of the no-ball that wasn’t continued to reverberate, primarily in Bangladesh. Mustafa Kamal, the Bangladeshi who was the president of the International Cricket Council (ICC), told national television channels, ‘There was no quality in the umpiring. It looked like they took the field after it (the outcome) was pre-arranged.’

His comments drew strong reactions from Dave Richardson, the former South African wicketkeeper who was then the ICC Chief Executive. ‘The ICC has noted Mr Mustafa Kamal’s comments, which are very unfortunate but made in his personal capacity,’ Richardson said, not mincing words. ‘As an ICC President, he should have been more considerate in his criticism of ICC match officials, whose integrity cannot be questioned.

‘The no-ball decision was a 50-50 call. The spirit of the game dictates that the umpire’s decision is final and must be respected. Any suggestion that the match officials had “an agenda” or did anything other than perform to the best of their ability are baseless and are refuted in the strongest possible terms.’

India-Bangladesh cricketing relations were already strained even though the rivalry was one of unequals and despite Bangladesh achieving Test status in 2000 almost entirely thanks to Jagmohan Dalmiya’s efforts. Over time, there would be an added needle to the India-Bangladesh contests with the latter coming close on numerous occasions to toppling Big Brother only to falter with the finish line in sight.

Rohit had no control over the controversy of the catch, though that did take some sheen off his excellent effort. After a long wait to prove himself on the biggest stage of all, Rohit had finally made his statement, but some of it was lost in the din surrounding the no-ball and the charges and countercharges that flew in the face of it.

(Excerpted with permission from R Kaushik’s The Rise of The Hitman; published by Rupa Publications)