India, May 7 -- Rohit Sharma will be the first to acknowledge that his Test career will remain one less fulfilled. For all his brilliance in the two limited-overs formats, his Test record didn't touch the dizzying heights his ability, or the stirring start that fetched him centuries in his first two outings, promised.

It wasn't for lack of effort, though. The very fact that he was willing, and able, to open the batting successfully, nearly six years after his Test debut in 2013, is indicative of his desire to stamp his authority in the red-ball version too. To be fair to him, until the last season, he did a more than competent job at the top of the order, the crowning glory being the four Tests in England in 2021 before which he worked a...