Samson, Dube and Team India epitomise the selfless culture Rohit Sharma left behind: ‘I didn’t miss two centuries’

It’s hard to imagine now, given the current climate, that there was a phase, an extended phase, in Indian cricket when individual milestones mattered more than the outcome. That’s not to say that the players themselves weren’t invested in victory, but the expectation from the outside was honour in defeat, maybe because the fans didn’t believe in their heroes as much as they ought to have and that percolated through to some of the players.

In the early days of following cricket, one was happy for Sunil Gavaskar to get centuries, the result be damned. Successive generations of cricket followers willed Gavaskar’s natural successor and the other little big man of Indian cricket, Sachin Tendulkar, to scale hitherto unaccomplished individual heights. Then came the obsession with Virat Kohli, and whether he would be able to match Tendulkar’s staggering record of 100 international centuries.

This is the mindset with which the Indian fan grew up in those times. India’s players themselves sometimes courted a defensive mindset when they travelled away from home, their first thought being to avoid defeat rather than target victory.

How times have changed. How attitudes have been reset.

They needed to, because in the two international white-ball formats, avoiding defeat cannot be the mantra. There is no scope for a stalemate, no escaping with a fighting, scrappy draw. It’s do or die, win or lose, and that has led to an inexorable shift in approaches – cricketers of the current vintage would rather lose in going for victory than not go for it at all, because there really is no other option.

Of course, the attitude of the average Indian fan has changed too. They are more ‘forgiving’, if that’s the right word, than those so emotionally invested in the fortunes of the national team that they targeted players’ houses and families when results didn’t go the team’s way, such as at the 50-over World Cup in the Caribbean in 2007.

Because India play so much cricket, and because they win a lot more than they lose (which might no longer apply to Test cricket), followers aren’t as volatile as in the past. They appreciate effort and commitment, not just the result alone, which has helped free up the players’ minds to a large extent.

Preserving Rohit Sharma’s legacy as leader

Cricket is perhaps the most individual of all team sports, yet even that individualism must bow before the demands and necessities of the team, now more than ever. That’s the calling card of recent Indian sides, from the time Rohit Sharma took charge across formats in early 2022. That streak has spilled over in his retirement from Tests and T20Is, a legacy the Mumbaikar ought to be proud of.

As the tournament ambassador, Rohit was in attendance at his beloved Wankhede Stadium on Thursday when India locked horns with England in the semifinal of the T20 World Cup. Under Rohit, the Indians had mounted an undefeated campaign to the crown in 2024, but this time, things haven’t gone their way. Once they surrendered tamely to South Africa in their opening Super Eight encounter two weeks back, they have been thrust into one must-win encounter after another. That streak now stands at three and counting.

What has been noticeable, especially from a batting perspective, is the utter disregard for individual accomplishments. Cricket is more numbers-driven than any other team sport and success is measured by fifties and hundreds and five-wicket hauls, but this Indian team has taken a lead from its immediate predecessors and chosen to focus on the achievement of the collective. That’s why Sanju Samson thinks little of going for a big one when on 89, that’s why Shivam Dube tees off from ball one when he is promoted to go after spin, that’s why Ishan Kishan bats as if no tomorrow, and that’s why Abhishek Sharma continues to take on off-spin , some might say foolhardily, despite that being his kryptonite three times in seven innings.

Putting team before personal milestones

Samson, the prime beneficiary of a changed tack that was intended to split the left-left opening combination, celebrated the oblique vote of confidence with a match-winning unbeaten 97 off 50 deliveries in the final Super Eight fixture against West Indies, and followed it up with 89 off 42 against the English at the Wankhede on Thursday. That’s 186 runs, once dismissed, in 92 deliveries across two knocks that contained 20 fours and 11 sixes. Predictably, he was asked at the post-match press conference after India’s entry into the final about ‘missing’ two hundreds.

“I haven’t missed two centuries, making 97 and 89 was a big deal,” he replied, without rancour or annoyance. “I’m very, very, very grateful for that. Nowadays, you know that in the Powerplay itself, a match is made and spoiled. As soon as you get three-four balls, you try to attack. Like Abhishek is doing, Ishan is doing and I am doing. The top-three is all about exploding in the Powerplay. Sometimes, you end up on the negative side of the result. But you can’t change your character or change the game plan. We bat till number eight, bat very deep. We need to play as per the needs of the team.”

It sounds easy enough to say that, but to not have that insecurity of a string of failures while trying to adhere to team plans, threatening one’s place in the side, can’t be straightforward. That calls for terrific support and backing, constant messaging and reinforcement from the management group that a long rope isn’t an amorphous carrot but a tangible reality. The message that a team that plays together and plays for each other wins together and for each other has been driven home emphatically, some might say effortlessly and organically. Rohit espoused the cause of fearless, positive cricket by taking it upon himself to show the way, and Suryakumar has followed in his wake.

Tilak and Dube, India’s unsung heroes

Just how quickly players have been willing and able to bat in positions out of the ordinary is best exemplified by the exploits in the last three games of Tilak Varma, one of the more unsung batting heroes. The left-hander began the tournament in the top four, mostly at No 3, but once India decided to push Kishan down to one drop so that they could accommodate a right-hander (Samson) at the top of the order, Tilak had to move down to No 5 or beyond. It’s not a position where he has batted a lot, either for the franchise (Mumbai Indians) or the country, but Tilak has slipped into the middle-order finisher’s role with aplomb.

A constant at every optional net session, the Hyderabadi has made 44 not out (16 balls), 27 (15) and now 21 (7) in his last three hits. He has blasted five fours and seven sixes in those 38 deliveries, where he has struck at a ridiculous 242.11 runs per 100 deliveries faced. There hasn’t been a hint of hesitancy, no second thoughts about committing to the task at hand. A collective effort against Zimbabwe in Chennai, and Samson in Kolkata and now Mumbai, have been the talking points, while Tilak’s exceptional performances in these three games have gone unnoticed. By the outside world, but not within the team, which values such cameos and small but key contributions with great admiration and respect.

After Samson won India the virtual quarter-final against West Indies at Eden Gardens , Jasprit Bumrah was asked what his favourite moment of the game was. He immediately alluded to the two fours in four deliveries that Dube struck in the penultimate over, which meant Samson and India needed just seven off the last six deliveries. “Not many will talk about that, but it was crucial,” Bumrah insisted. And rightly so.

Like at the last World Cup, Dube has been a silent, unsung hero. He has weighed in with the bat – 209 runs at a strike-rate of 159.54 – and while his economy is an unflattering 14.12 from 10.2 overs, he has prepared in game situations for difficult tasks. More than once, including against Zimbabwe, he has bowled the final over of an innings with little at stake, merely so that he gets used to that idea. That came in handy on Thursday, when with Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya all bowled out, Suryakumar brought Dube on for his first and the game’s final over with England needing 30.

Dube ended up conceding 22, but at the halfway stage of the over, the game was done and dusted; England required 27 from three deliveries after he gave away just one run each from the first three balls. Because he had the belief, because he knew he could do it. For the team, and for himself. India have shown time and again that team before self isn’t a cute cliché. That’s one of the main reasons why they will challenge New Zealand on Sunday for the T20 World Cup crown.