How do you describe Rohit Sharma's knock of 26 off 47 in Cardiff on Thursday? Was it scratchy? Aimless? A tough watch?
Whatever you call it, it was definitely not the Rohit we are accustomed to: calm, purposeful, confident; a batter who constructed great ODI innings the old-fashioned way or one who transformed into an aggressor in the first 10 overs during his captaincy years.
At Sophia Gardens on Thursday afternoon under a blazing sun, Rohit appeared dazed, getting stuck in a rut even as batters around him unfurled attractive strokes while scoring at a fast clip. Rohit's innings included one four and a six and came at a strike rate of 55.31. The two boundary shots were trademark Rohit strokes, yet, those are not what we will remember this innings for.
For virtually the entirety of his stay, Rohit seemed uncertain, defensive and cautious. He kept hitting into the hands of fielders, played out a maiden in Sam Curran's first over and looked tentative against the offspin of Will Jacks before falling to him. Immediately after batting out the maiden, Rohit played three dot balls against Jacks before going for a sweep against a straight ball delivered from around the wicket. It was not a confident shot, the ball lobbed off the bottom of the closed bat, and it was an easy grab for Jos Buttler.
It was the second time in three days that Rohit had been out playing a stroke he didn't really have conviction in playing. At Edgbaston, he jumped out of the crease attempting to hit Curran over the infield, but instead spooned an easy catch to mid-off. India's batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, though, said he wouldn't use the term "struggle" to describe Rohit's batting on Thursday.
"See I have played a lot of cricket, seen a lot of cricket, on a day there are lot of batters that I have seen they don't get that momentum what they are looking for. And that can happen," Kotak said after the game. "You might see a completely different innings from Rohit Sharma at Lord's (in the third ODI) so I wouldn't use the word that he was 'struggling'. But, maybe the shots he normally plays - like on-the-up and all [he did not get to play] which is because of the double bounce [and due to that] probably he felt he wasn't comfortable. Shubman [Gill] got a quick start, then Virat [Kohli] got a quick start but he didn't probably get the balls in the slots, he didn't get going. But I wouldn't use the word 'struggle'."
The grippy bounce was a factor and nearly resulted in Rohit's early exit. He was surprised by a short-of-length delivery in Jofra Archer's second over that kicked up into his ribs, denying him the room he usually savours to pull sweetly over the boundary. This time, the rushed pull went straight towards deep backward square leg where Gus Atkinson messed up. At that point, Rohit was on 5 but the reprieve did not help him as he remained unsettled throughout his innings.
The manner in which Rohit has failed to find a way out on pitches that have assisted bowlers as well as batters would have been noticed by India's think-tank as well as the selection panel led by Ajit Agarkar. Curiously, midway into the Cardiff ODI, media reports emerged in India speculating on Rohit's international future. One report suggested Rohit could play his final match for India on Sunday at Lord's in the series decider, with the selectors indicating to the management that they were not going to consider Rohit for the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Rohit has earned the right to have a dip in form, but at 39 - and with more than one competent youngster waiting to take his spot - he cannot waive off the constant scrutiny. Rohit is a World Cup great and an ODI phenom with record centuries and runs to cherish, but as he himself has said previously, the past doesn't matter.
What matters is performances, however great you are. We just have to look at Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the ongoing FIFA World Cup. Both are GOATs, but the former, also 39, has taken Argentina into the final by helping them win either by scoring goals or creating assists. Ronaldo, who is 41, on the other hand, has been receiving criticism for failing to put team ahead of self.
Rohit has put the team before self in the past; when India lost the 2019 World Cup semi-final he said the five centuries scored in that edition were of no value, and intended to resolve that come 2023 when he led India to the final with brave new-ball batting.
For Kotak, Rohit is "too big a player" to be under "pressure" and not getting runs in the first two ODIs shouldn't "make any difference." Lord's offers him another chance. Just that we don't know for certain right now whether that would be his farewell innings, or one that buys him time to keep his ODI World Cup dreams alive.