The convergent paths of Shaun Marsh and Rohit Sharma

Rohit Sharma

This is an analogy of 2 of the biggest talents in today’s cricketing circuit, who have intermittently promised a lot, but have failed to deliver in crucial situations. Their lean patches are the leanest that could exist, but their purple patches are breath-taking to watch.

Both players emerged with a bang, with Rohit Sharma performing well in World T20 in South Africa and CB Series in Australia, and Shaun Marsh being a prolific run scorer in IPL-1. It was not just the runs, but the class and mesmerising strokes that caught the eye of cricket pundits. Consequently, both got picked for their respective limited overs sides the next season.

This was the time when both seem to be destined to be the best, but sadly inconsistency became a common feature for both, with Marsh having had to deal with injuries too.

There were glimpses of occasional brilliance, for Marsh against SA in 2009 and for Sharma in Zimbabwe, but average in the early thirties was never going to be enough.

Shaun Marsh

They got dropped from the World Cup, but returned to play well after that with Sharma excelling against West Indies and Marsh scoring big in Sri Lanka. They had build a reputation for them in world cricket. But leaner than most leanest patches occurred for both, with Sharma scoring 13 runs in 5 innings against Sri Lanka and Marsh scoring 17 runs in 4 Tests against India.

While Marsh had to go back to Sheffield cricket, Rohit was in the squad still, though not playing.

It’s the enormous belief of MS Dhoni in Sharma that he got a chance to open against England in Dharamshala, where he showed his mettle with a gritty half-century.

Sharma finally seemed to find his way in world cricket, with an ODI double century against Australia proving that. But the recent tours of SA and New Zealand displayed how his inexperience at the top of the order would hurt his team.

Meanwhile, Marsh wasn’t scoring big in Sheffield cricket at 36 apiece, but again his unique elegance and talent to augment the scoring rate propelled his way back to the squad, where he has responded with a masterly match-winning century against world’s best pace attack.

But then comes the excitement that we associate with both these players. Marsh scored a pair in the next Test.

The time that both these players seem to have in playing their shots sets them apart from other players. This explains their success in T20 cricket. But what is lacking is the perseverance to grind out tough situations and wait for the right moments to seize momentum.

Both are at the same bridge in their careers. It’s now perform or perish for them. The tours of England and Australia will be a tough test for Sharma, while Marsh won’t find it easy against SA and Pakistan in UAE.

It’s the support staff and the coach that have a huge role to play to extract the maximum out of these born talents. The game of cricket requires them to prove their mettle, else their time of reckoning may span out and it could well be the curtains down on their act in cricket.

While Marsh has Lehmann on his side, which almost “guarantees” his success, Sharma needs a good mentor-cum-coach on his side too. If only Fletcher could deliver!