Rohit’s elegance or Virat’s aggression – what’s your pick?

Holding on to a middle order spot in the Indian Test squad is difficult. That much is certain. Getting there means nothing because just a few failures can mean that you will be quickly shunted out and your next chance will depend solely on how the other batsmen who make the cut do. In the coming days, we’ll hear the names of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma a lot more; a lot more because both of them have been picked for the tour of Australia and also because the only other real candidates are in trouble for a variety of reasons. Yuvraj Singh is getting treatment for a non-malignant tumour, Cheteshwar Pujara has just recovered from a knee injury he suffered in May this year and Suresh Raina has discovered that the short ball isn’t his best friend. So who does that leave us with? Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma – there is Ajinkya Rahane too and he has done well in the Emerging India tours Down Under. But first choice will be a straight battle between Kohli and Rohit. And it isn’t an easy choice. [caption id=“attachment_144955” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“India’s Rohit Sharma plays a shot during their fourth one-day international cricket match against South Africa at St George’s Park stadium in Port Elizabeth. Reuters”]  [/caption] Kohli and Rohit are like chalk and cheese. They are different as different can be. Kohli is ever excitable, never short of words, always game for a fight – almost looking for it. He is in your face, brash, looked at by many as a future India captain but beyond all of that – he is consistent. In the third Test against the West Indies, he hit two fifties – the second of which almost set India up for victory. Rohit, on the other hand, is the complete anti-thesis. Where Kohli is excitable, Rohit takes a while to warm up. He’s pretty good in the field but there’s always the question of mood with him. He’s rather snooze than work on his game like a maniac. And he does like the good life – fast cars, expensive homes and the odd party. He remains capable of producing an innings of such exquisite class that you’d swear by him. But then again, that depends on the mood. But none of that should matter when the playing XI for the Australia series in being decided. It should all boil down to technique. If England was about seam and swing, Australia is about pace and bounce. If you can’t play the horizontal bat shots well, you will perish. And that’s where perhaps Rohit Sharma has a slight advantage. He has already played a long ODI series in Australia – with a fair degree of success. And he remains one of India’s best players of fast bowling. He has time on his hands and that was best illustrated during the World T20 in West Indies in 2010 when he scored at unbeaten 79 against an Australian attack that included Shaun Tait, Dirk Nannes, Shane Watson and Mitchell Johnson. The Aussies were concentrating on the short ball and rest of the Indian line-up perished in quick time. The next highest score was 13 by Harbhajan Singh. It really seemed like Rohit had arrived but like many times before, it proved to be a false dawn. Kohli has taken his chances whenever he’s got them in the ODI format but Tests have been a different issue. During the three Test series against the West Indies in West Indies, he faced a barrage of short deliveries and struggled against them – with only 76 runs to show from five innings. It led to him being dropped for the England tour. A move which gave him time to work on his technique and give how he can expect more of the same in Australia, hopefully… that was time well spent. But the team management will need to decide whether they want to go with someone who says he has overcome that problem or go with someone who is clearly more at ease against the short ball. It isn’t an easy decision, which is why the ODI series is a test ahead of Tests. Every run here matters – Rohit has a headstart for now. Kohli’s waiting to strike back.