Rohit Sharma’s meteoric rise from being a failed prodigy to World’s top-ranked Test opener

Rohit Sharma

The rise of the opening batsman Rohit Sharma in the longest format of the game is nothing less than inspirational. On September 1, Wednesday, Rohit leapfrogged the Indian skipper and arguably the greatest batsman of the modern era, Virat Kohli to acquire the fifth position in the Test batsmen rankings by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

Rohit’s journey to the top in the Test format has been a rollercoaster ride. There is no denying the fact that Mumbai-born is one of the finest batters of all time in white-ball cricket. However, the same couldn’t be said for the 34-year-old’s Test career as, since his debut in 2013, the batsman was in and out of the team.

Sharma introduced himself in the purest format with a century against West Indies in 2013. As the limited-overs vice-captain showed signs of brilliance early in his Test cricket, the cricket fraternity was hoping for Rohit to reach greater heights. Howver, playing as a middle-order batsman in the longest format didn’t work for long for Sharma and soon there was a significant dip in his performance.

Rohit Sharma’s rise as an opening batsman

The Mumbai-born’s Test career took flight in 2019 only after he was promoted up the order to open the innings. Playing his first Test as an opener against South Africa at home, Rohit returned with scores of 176 and 127. This was only a start for the Mumbai Indians skipper.

During the SA series, Rohit also slammed his highest Test score, 212 to become only the fourth player to score a double-ton in both ODIs and Tests. The Test series against the Proteas in 2019 ended with Rohit amassing a whopping 529 runs, the most by an Indian opener.

The 34-year-old followed it up with another impressive performance in the two-match Test series against Bangladesh. However, after that Rohit was forced to miss the Test series against New Zealand followed by two Test matches against Australia due to fitness concerns.

Making his comeback after a year in 2021 during the third Test between India and Australia, the veteran recorded scores of 26, 52, 44, and 7. Meanwhile, it was the four-match home series against England that helped the batsman is reestablishing his authority in the Test format.

India’s highest-ranked Test batsman

Rohit Sharma finished as the leading run-getter for India with 345 runs under his belt in four matches at a remarkable average of 57.50. The ongoing five-match Test series is being considered as a litmus test for the Indian opening batsman.

Before starting the series, Rohit had the pressure of proving himself as a reliable Test batter overseas too. It won’t be wrong to say that the Mumbai-born is shining bright in the England series. In three Test matches thus far, Sharma has emerged as the second-highest run-scorer for India with 230 runs in six innings.

As a reward for his impressive performance, Rohit is now the highest-ranked Indian batsman in the Test rankings. He climbed up a spot to take Virat Kohli’s fifth position in the charts. While Rohit Sharma has been phenomenal so far, it is only the start for the batter and he has a long road ahead as a Test batsman.

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