There was a time when Krishnamachari Srikkanth was the greatest thing to happen to ODI cricket in India. He, of the ever sniffling nose and the long walks between deliveries, went for his shots when other openers of his generation would have offered a straight bat. His audacity got us talking, his shots put the opposition on the back-foot and his attitude sent the crowd into raptures. All that, and his strike-rate was 71.74.
Perhaps it speaks of the way cricket was played or maybe it is an indication of how far we have progressed since – a strike-rate of 71.74 won’t even give you a sniff of the India colours now. As Rohit Sharma was hammering the Sri Lankan bowlers in the second ODI at Mohali with this third double century – a feat only achieved seven times in the history of the game – the change became even more apparent; more so in the opener’s slot.
The responsibility of the ODI opener now is to not only see off the new ball, but also to take advantage of the field restrictions and get the side off to a quick start. Well begun is half done and in ODI cricket, it sets things up for the rest of the team perfectly.
Rohit, though, is far from an anomaly. Effectively all major records by openers in ODIs are held by Indian players. Since the debut of limited overs cricket, the highest individual score has been broken 12 times, four by Indian batsmen. Nine of these scores are by openers. The last three – starting with Sachin Tendulkar in 2010 – have been by Indian openers.
Indeed, it now seems amazing that it was only in 1984 that Ravi Shastri (yes, that ‘paisa vasool’ man again) became the first Indian opener to score a century, more than nine years after the inaugural World Cup.
Subsequently, since Sachin Tendulkar’s debut as opener in 1994, the frequency of centuries started to increase as did India’s winning ratio. Pre-1994, India won only 45.13% of its 102 matches. Post-1994 (when Tendulkar started opening), the number has gone up to 56.60% (375 matches). An almost 12 percentile jump is huge.
The last decade, however, hasn’t seen the same kind of scoring, but makes up for it with monumental career defining innings, much like the one Rohit had at Mohali.
As an opener, Rohit averages 56.33 in 88 ODIs, more than any other opener in history who has scored at least a 1,000 runs. His closest competitor Hashim Amla, a batsman with a repertoire of strokes averages nearly 52 as an opener.
Tendulkar averaged 48.30 but he did it over 340 ODIs. Rohit’s regular opening partner Shikhar Dhawan averages 43.76 (94 ODIs). Sourav Ganguly comes in next at 41.57 (236 ODIs). Navjot ‘Jonty’ Singh – who did play some cricket before he got into politics – had an average of 40.30 (63) and Gautam Gambhir rounds off the top six with an average of 39.61 in 91 ODIs.
The important thing to notice is that barring Sidhu, the rest of them have contributed to an almost unbroken run of classy openers who have held their own against the best of all time. No wonder, India’s record has improved.
Another thing that has changed is the consistency with which India are now getting 300-plus totals. India scored their first 300-plus total in 1996 (against Pakistan at Sharjah). They were the last Test nation to score 300 runs in an ODI – it took them 238 matches. But they became the first nation to reach 100-plus 300 run totals during the second ODI at Mohali.
It would be grossly unfair to attribute the glut of big totals to solely the openers (a big nod to Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Co) but they have played a huge role in that.
It’s useful to have these kind of partnerships sustained over a long period of time. Dhawan and Rohit have played 68 innings together, the third highest among Indian opening pairs. But even their partnership plays second fiddle to the legendary opening duo of Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar.
The former Indian captain and the Little Master played together 137 times in a space of 11 years. With 6,609 in partnership runs at an average of 49, they had 21 century partnerships between them, more than any other opening pair in history.
Few pairs have come close to repeating this. Only Matthew Hayden and Adam Gilchrist are in with a shout scoring a combined 5,372 runs, but even the explosive Australians can’t replicate Ganguly and Tendulkar’s consistency or longevity.
Many will argue that the ODI game is perhaps unrecognisable from even a decade ago. Scoring patterns have changed, playing conditions have changed, but India’s openers have also evolved to stay ahead of the chasing pack.
If anything, Rohit is only the latest in the line of splendid Indian openers that began with Tendulkar all those years ago. Being an Indian opener in ODIs now almost comes with a pressure that is entirely it’s own. You are judged not just by your numbers; you are judged against the best in history. And that is saying something.