Rohit Sharma credits Indian cricket’s two legendary figures for giving him ‘second birth’ in Tests

New Delhi: Despite having a great start to his Test career in 2013 with back-to-back centuries, Rohit Sharma was never a regular feature in the Indian playing XI till 2019. With Shikhar Dhawan, Murali Vijay and KL Rahul alternatively opening the batting for India during that phase in Tests, Rohit found himself in the middle-order with inconsistency being his sole companion.

Not to forget, the right-hander was a regular opener for India in white-ball cricket back then and had a cracking 2019 ODI World Cup in England where he smashed five hundreds. His explosive batting at the World Cup didn’t do any good for Rohit until then captain Virat kohli and then head coach Ravi Shastri decided to ask to Rohit to open the batting in Tests too.

It was the same time Rahul was struggling as an opener in the longest format. The move worked wonders for Rohit as he consistently delivered in his new role. Speaking on sports presenter Jatin Sapru’s YouTube channel, Rohit revealed how Kohli and Shastri revived his Test career.

“In the second innings, I was very grateful to Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli for giving me the opportunity to bat up the order. It wasn’t an easy decision to promote me in Tests. They trusted me. They asked me to play one practice match, which I did,” he said.

“I got out on the very first ball, but I realised that I didn’t have any other choice. It felt like a second birth in Test cricket. I knew I had to grab this opportunity, whether it meant opening, batting at No. 5 or 6, or even lower down the order,” revealed Rohit.

Like in white-ball, Rohit went with an open mind in Tests too, playing his natural game. “My response to them was clear: I will play my natural game and won’t take the pressure of trying to survive. I’m going to play freely. If the ball is there, whether it’s the first ball of the Test or not, I’m going to hit it. They gave me the freedom to do what I wanted,” he said.

Since then, Rohit has been enjoying a purple patch with the bat in red-ball cricket. Out of his 4179 Test runs, Rohit scored 2594 runs in 34 Tests while opening the batting. Overall, Rohit played 61 Tests so far. In fact, his success with the bat at the top in Tests also saw him becoming the captain in 2022.

For the record, under Rohit’s captaincy, India haven’t lost a single Test series. In 18 Tests that Rohit has captained, India won 12 of them.