- Author, Suresh Menon
- Role, Cricket writer
In 2011, the last time India won a cricket World Cup, everyone knew it would be Sachin Tendulkar’s last chance.
He was 39, his sixth try and the team’s unofficial motto was “Let’s do it for Sahin”.
After skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit the winning six, Virat Kohli, who was among those who carried Tendulkar on their shoulders, memorably said, “He has had our batting on his shoulders for so long, it is time to carry him to the our shoulders. “
And now Kohli, Tendulkar’s natural successor who turns 36 this year, is in the twilight of his own career.
The next T20 World Cup is in 2026 and the 50 over version in 2027. Kohli is better than Tendulkar but it is hard to see him playing white ball cricket at this level again. Captain Rohit Sharma, 37, may play his last World Cup as well.
There was no cry of ‘Let’s do it for Kohli’ or ‘Let’s do it for Rohit’ in the Indian team, unless they were done more subtly than before. Maybe there’s a “Let’s do it for [Rahul] Dravid,” remains in the air. For the Indian coach, who missed the 2011 World Cup, this is his last assignment with the national team.
image source, Getty Images
Increasingly, T20 is turning into a young man’s game, a young man who can’t be bothered with personal stats but is focused on where his next six comes from. This is a cultural shift in Indian cricket that is going unnoticed – too many great players in the past have shown an unhealthy concern with how they look in the record books, where the figures lack context.
Sharma’s stunning 92 against Australia showed the next generation how strike rates mattered more than averages in T20. When Tendulkar made his 100th international century, he was highly praised. But India lost the match.
India’s white-ball team – especially in T20s – is in transition. Ten members of that team are over 30, three over 35. And more determined hitters are coming through the system.
Shubhman Gill is leading an Indian T20 team to Zimbabwe for a five-match T20 series next month. India’s future is represented there, with Yashasvi Jaiswal (unlucky not to have played in the T20 World Cup, though he still might), Riyan Parag, Abhishek Sharma, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Kumar, Ravi Bishnoi, all under-25 , and Rinku Singh a shade.
image source, Getty Images
The over-35s in the current team in the West Indies include Ravindra Jadeja, while Suryakumar Yadav, the leading player in the format is approaching 34.
Age should not matter, form and fitness should decide. However, T20 is a tough format. Experience can really work against a player where strategy and tactics move at an extraordinary pace and the philosophies of yesterday no longer apply.
T20 was a different beast when Kohli and Sharma first started making their mark on it.
That they have managed to keep up with Suryakumar and Jaiswal (World No. 7) is a tribute to their adaptability. It is possible that one or both of them will call it quits after the current World Cup. If India win, they cannot go higher and would have been sidelined after a triumph. If they lose, they will be under pressure to make way. Sports can be tough.
When India lost the World Cup by 50-overs in the final to Australia last year, the country went into mourning. The players were gutted, none more tangibly than Kohli and Sharma who both had a fine tournament as India went into the final unbeaten. And then they set it on fire. Neither would take a ride on teammates’ shoulders. Everyone knew the opportunity might never come again.
Hence the quest for redemption in the T20 World Cup. Somehow careers are considered incomplete without a world crown, regardless of format. A triumph is a happier starting point for transition.