India vs West Indies: Here's why selectors are right in not considering Rohit Sharma for upcoming home series

Editor’s note: The Indian selectors decided to ignore Rohit Sharma while picking the squad for the Test series against Windies, opting to bring in fresh faces while axing seniors Shikhar Dhawan and Murali Vijay. As the debate over Rohit’s place in the Test side rages on, with the likes of Sourav Ganguly and Harbhajan Singh backing the Mumbai batsman, we take a look at whether he really deserves to be in the reckoning in the first place or not. To read the opposing viewpoint, click here . If there’s one word that Rohit Sharma must truly detest, it has to be talent. For far too long, the elegant right-hander’s industriousness has been cloaked over by the seeming effortlessness that talent brings, but the Mumbai batsman has marched on gamely in white-ball cricket. Things, however, take a U-turn in red-ball game. While Rohit has managed to shrug off the ‘stigma of talent with a series of world-class performances in limited-overs’ cricket, the same has not been the case in Tests. After a stupendous start to his long-form career — two hundreds in his first two innings in what was Sachin Tendulkar’s farewell series — Rohit’s performances tailed off rather tragically. His next century came after over four years, against Sri Lanka, and a cursory look at his statistics reveal a far truer picture. [caption id=“attachment_2035507” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Rohit Sharma’s repeated failures in Tests and team’s preference for five bowlers have ensured his exclusion from the West Indies series. AP/ File[/caption] For someone with an as wide range of strokes as him and with a penchant to score big hundreds — as his three ODI double tons indicate — Rohit’s continued failures have remained a conundrum. This state of perplexity has, in a way, earned him more chances than he perhaps merited. Skipper Virat Kohli’s preference for stroke-makers is no secret, and Rohit’s questionable selections at the expense of Ajinkya Rahane in the first two Tests in South Africa, that India went onto lose, are the most recent cases in point. The rationale behind picking Rohit on faster tracks is his ability to play the cut shot and pull from the front foot. Excellent qualities, one would say, especially if one has watched him employ those shots in limited-overs’ cricket. However, for reasons technical and mental, Rohit neither looks certain in his waiting game nor does his free-stroking ways are expressed in whites. His tendency to play with his hands, and not moving his front foot much, is well-documented, which makes him susceptible to the swinging red ball. Then, there’s the issue of his head falling over while playing fairly straight balls, something that was evident in South Africa, where he kept missing the incoming as well as straight deliveries, falling leg-before or bowled in three of his four innings. This was his second Test tour to South Africa, and much was expected of Rohit as a senior batsman. Rohit’s averages outside the sub-continent read 28.83 in Australia, 17 in England, 40.66 in New Zealand, 15.37 in South Africa, and 25 in West Indies. A sample size of 12 Tests outside the sub-continent is understandably not sizeable, given the conditions in Australia are entirely different from England, but the fact that his failures have been constant in every country mentioned above do indicate at unflattering Test-match credentials. His omission from the West Indies series must have been an easy and natural choice for the team management, who would like a more complete Test-match batsman in the middle order. Moreover, with the return of Hardik Pandya, the Kohli-Shastri tag team will, in all likelihood, resort to their five-bowler theory. The same doctrine kept Karun Nair out of five Tests in England, and Rohit doesn’t really inspire the confidence to play on a crumbling pitch or deal with the second new ball. He could, of course, be played in place of Rahane at number five, but the experience at the Rainbow Nation would have convinced the team management of Rohit’s utility in the Test arena. Unless the team decides to play six frontline batsman and a wicket-keeper, there really doesn’t look a spot available for the 31-year-old. In that case too, Rohit would not be an automatic shoe-in, as there would be a three-way shoot-out between Karun Nair, Rohit, and Hanuma Vihari. There were talks of him being considered for opening the batting in England. Considering the wretched run of India’s first-choice openers in recent past, such suggestions fly in the face of logic. More so, when selectors have finally shown the willingness to try Mayank Agarwal and Prithvi Shaw. The selectors and team management have indeed made the right call in not selecting Rohit for the upcoming series against West Indies. While this may sound harsh, it is the current team combination leaves no room for him. And Rohit himself has done himself no favours. To read the opposing viewpoint titled 'Why a batsman of Rohit Sharma's calibre deserves more support from national selectors', click here