Sunil Gavaskar: India’s inventive approach should be labelled ‘Gohit’ after skipper Rohit Sharma

We have seen over the last couple of years that Rohit Sharma has been batting aggressively and encouraging his team to do so as well. If any credit is due, it is solely to Rohit.

Rohit Sharma, the Indian skipper, has led the revolution in batting approach since taking over as captain. | Photo Credit: PTI

India’s batting in the recently concluded Test match at Kanpur’s Green Park has come in for universal praise for breathing life into a game that seemed destined to be dead and buried. Rohit Sharma, the Indian skipper who has led the revolution in batting approach since taking over as captain, once again showed the way forward. The first two deliveries he faced [in the first innings] were smashed for sixes, and the innings gained momentum at breakneck speed from thereon. To be fair, young Yashasvi Jaiswal also hammered three boundaries in the very first over of the innings, but those could be described as risk-free punches. The skipper, on the other hand, took a risk as he advanced down the pitch to the very first delivery he faced, smiting it over long-on for a mighty six. When the bowler shortened his length for the next delivery, it was pulled over square leg for another maximum. This completely threw the Bangladesh bowlers off, and the others that followed just didn’t know where to bowl.

Not surprisingly, the Indian approach drew reactions from the old powers who, as usual, wanted to take credit for it. That’s how certain parts of the world work in everyday life, too — taking credit where none is really due. Sadly, while the batting was thrilling and refreshing, the names given to the approach were the same old, same old. Just as any scandal is now called this-gate or that-gate after the Watergate scandal over 50 years ago in the United States of America, this Indian batting approach was labelled this-ball and that-ball after the term “Bazball” was coined for the England team’s batting attitude. It was called this because “Baz” is the nickname of their coach, Brendon McCullum from New Zealand, who batted exactly as his team is doing — throwing caution to the winds in an attempt to score runs.

As seen in India last year, this approach doesn’t work in Test matches and may surprise the opposition for a game or two at best. While one paper called the Indian batting “Bossball” because the captain or “boss” of the team, Rohit, had shown the way, some from the old powers referred to it as “Gamball” after the Indian coach, Gautam Gambhir. While the England batting approach changed completely under the new regime of Ben Stokes and McCullum, we have seen over the last couple of years that Rohit has been batting like this and encouraging his team to do so as well. Gambhir has only been coaching for a couple of months, so attributing this approach to him is foot-licking of the highest quality. Gambhir himself hardly ever batted in this fashion like McCullum used to do. If any credit is due, it is solely to Rohit and nobody else.

Instead of using the words this-ball or that-ball, I would suggest using the skipper’s first name, Rohit, and term it the “Gohit” approach. Hopefully, brainier people will come up with a trendier name for this rather than the lazy option of calling it after “Bazball.” That day’s batting set the game up for India to secure a win on the final day and earn the much-needed points required to be in the race for a place in the World Test Championship (WTC) finals in June next year. Would this approach have been adopted if there were no points on offer and no qualification needed for the WTC final?

Having lost two full days of play, with the team batting first still having seven wickets in hand, not many teams in the past would have even looked at a result and would have been content to play out the remaining two days for personal records and milestones. So, full marks to the ICC for creating the World Test Championship and thereby making every Test match, including a dead rubber, important for the points teams can accrue from them. Every Test match thus has context and has livened up the long format, with teams wanting a win and looking to make things happen by trying something new and innovative.

However refreshing and thrilling the Indian batting was in the Kanpur Test match, let’s face it: would they have batted in the same manner if there were no points on offer? The much-maligned ICC deserves every bit of applause for changing the perception towards every Test match by creating the World Test Championship. India knows they have tough games ahead, and thus they had to try and secure maximum points while playing in India. Bangladesh are done and dusted, and now it’s the Kiwis who will be in the firing line of Rohit and his boys. Will they overpower them as they did Bangladesh? We shall soon find out.