Rohit Sharma made 2697 runs as an opener in 38 Test for India, out of his 4301 runs overall.
Former India coach Ravi Shastri revealed why Rohit Sharma was moved to open for India in Test cricket as well. He stated that Rohit used to get bored when batting in the middle order, and his brilliant success in the 2019 World Cup prompted the move.
There were two parts to Rohit Sharma's Test career. In the latter round, the 37-year-old gained so much recognition in the red-ball style that he even likened himself to some of India's greatest players.
But that phase, which followed the 2019 World Cup, when the star batter's record-breaking performance left the 62-year-old wondering, is largely Rohit's fault, thanks to former India head coach Ravi Shastri.
For the majority of his career, Rohit was a white-ball maverick who achieved success. In contrast to ODIs and T20Is, he was a middle-order batsman in the longest format; hence, he found it difficult to replicate the same performance. Shastri's insight, nevertheless, altered his Test career.
When the first World Test Championship began in 2019, Shastri recalled his decision to have Rohit open for India in Test cricket immediately following the conclusion of the World Cup.
"Batting at four or five, this guy used to get bored. Then I started dwelling on the fact why he is so successful in one-day cricket? He likes to be out there early. I said, if he can go out there and do it, he has got enough time on his hands to play the quicks. He's got the shots against the quicks to take them on. The field is up, so Test cricket might be a honeymoon for him if he starts embracing it,” Shastri stated in an ICC Review episode.
After witnessing Rohit smash five hundreds on his way to scoring 648 runs in nine games, Shastri said the idea came to him. He then conferred with then-captain Virat Kohli before the West Indies tour, and there was no turning back. As an opener, Rohit scored nine of his twelve career runs.
"He'd batted enough at five and six, and he wasn't here, and he wasn't there. He would get his 20s or 30s and throw it away. (I thought) let's put him under pressure and send him up (the order). And I remember telling him in the West Indies, 'We want you to open.'
This was in August 2019, if I'm not mistaken, after that World Cup. He'd had a great World Cup, so his form was very good. And he might have thought of it for a little while, but he was OK. Then he came in for the first Test match, and he opened the innings, and he got a hundred. If I'm not mistaken, he got a big 100 in that first inning, and then he didn't look back because he seemed to enjoy it.
He figured it out, and what I must say is he worked a lot on his technique because I thought his best batting was in England, where you really got to play a little differently, and especially he had to play with soft hands and could leave (the ball) a lot. And he worked on it, which was very good. So, suddenly from nowhere, he was setting up games for you,” Shastri added.
Rohit Sharma made merry against the South Africans at home, as he struck twin centuries in the first Test where he opened for India and then smashed a double ton as well in the same series.
He went on to make 4301 runs in 67 Tests for India, out of which 2697 runs came as an opener in 38 games at 42.08. In fact, he is the second-highest run-getter as an opener in WTC history.