Boxing Day Test: Cummins and Sharma, a contrasting tale of two captains

The Boxing Day Test at the MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) lived up to its billing in more ways than one, with a record 370,000-plus spectators passing through its gates, Test cricket in its full splendour, and the birth of new heroes. A key sub-plot, however, was the tale of two captains and their contrasting fortunes.

Rohit Sharma and Pat Cummins — chalk-and-cheese as personalities — have underlined the virtue of leading by example, albeit in different ways. Counting the days in his Test career, the 37-year-old Rohit was a shadow of his old self as a batter, making things worse by venting his frustration on younger teammates and being ultra-defensive as a leader.

Cummins, on the other hand, emerged as Player of the Match in Melbourne for helping the team cause — edging out the individual brilliance of Nitish Kumar Reddy, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jasprit Bumrah, or Aussie veteran Steve Smith.

What was so special about the Australian Test captain, who has been riding the crest of a wave for the last year-and-a-half? When he induced a mistimed flick from Rohit on Monday morning, Cummins actually broke the record for a captain dismissing his counterpart most times in Test cricket — six.  

The previous record was held by Australia’s Richie Benaud and Pakistan’s Imran Khan, respectively. Benaud had dismissed England’s Ted Dexter five times whereas Imran got the better of Sunil Gavaskar five times. Cummins kept on hitting the deck in full steam (to return with hauls of 3/89 and 3/28) as one would expect, but what goes under the radar is his priceless contribution with the bat at no. 8.

While his 49 in the first innings helped the hosts swell their tally to a daunting 474, the 41 in the second innings after being reduced to 91/6 at one stage was worth its weight in gold. There have been numerous occasions in the past when Cummins has shown great resilience in the supporting role of a batter, a factor which has earned Australia’s tail the reputation of being a thorn in the flesh.

While cricket may be replete with stories of hands-on captains or the more cerebral ones, there is no gainsaying that on-field performance makes the job of a leader easier, and this is where Rohit has failed miserably. The buzz now is that Rohit is all set to make an announcement on his Test future after Sydney, while common wisdom says he should not stretch beyond it.

It’s unfortunate how the tables have turned for the ‘Big Two’ of Indian batting ever since that balmy Mumbai night when the Men in Blue were accorded a phenomenal heroes’ welcome at the Wankhede on return after winning the T20 World Cup. Test cricket, however, is a different beast and it has cruelly exposed Rohit’s deficiencies in the three Tests he played Down Under, accruing 31 runs and crossing double digits only once.

"It's mentally disturbing when you can't do what we have come to do. We had our chances in the match, but we couldn’t grab them,’’ remarked a crestfallen Rohit, who must be held accountable along with head coach Gautam Gambhir for tinkering with the opening combination to help the captain go up the order. The gamble of restoring Rohit in his opening role — which entails handling such a top class new-ball attack on tracks with bounce and carry — now looks like an ad hoc, selfish measure.

 A five-Test tour often turns out to be a saga of dressing room challenges as well, and the ongoing one seems like one for India. The out-of-form captain’s sound bytes sound hollow and his leadership defensive, while it was clearly the management’s failure to stop Ravi Ashwin from leaving the tour midway.

The chances of making the WTC final now exist only on paper. South Africa have already become the first team to make the cut on Sunday and the task is now cut out for Rohit to re-energise the team in quick time, unless he sits out and allows Bumrah to give it a go in the New Year Test!