But one wonders why Shastri wrote ‘a relaxed Shaaaarma’. Rohit can be seen sporting a nice shirt. The 39-year-old is looking much younger, having lost a lot of weight in recent months. But the bigger meaning could be: Rohit is relaxed having probably survived the axe last month during the India-England ODIs.

Axe, in a manner of speaking. In the lead-up to the final ODI at Lord’s, the Indian media was abuzz with speculations after the Indian Express reported that the third match was going to be Rohit’s last as he wasn’t part of the plans for the 2027 World Cup anymore to be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.

Although the BCCI dismissed the claim later, for a few days, Indian cricket was in total chaos with people taking sides. In what was reported to be his last match, Rohit then smashed a 111-ball 138 to silence his critics, even though India lost the rubber 2-1.

Considering the report wasn’t false, Rohit definitely bought himself more time. He proved there was life in the old dog yet. Definitely, he will be seen many more times in India colours in the near future, probably even in the World Cup.

Having saved himself from the sword, Rohit must have been in a nice, relaxed mood, and that’s what probably Shastri had in mind when he wrote, ‘a relaxed Shaaaarma’. In the picture, both are smiling, and Shastri has his right arm wrapped around Rohit’s shoulders, with the index finger and thumb of his other hand pointing inwards towards Rohit.

After his century at Lord’s last month, Rohit said, “Look, my job is with the bat. Come and play, represent my country, represent the team. That’s what I’ve been told to do since I made my debut. So that’s what I’m going to do. You know, the noise since I made my debut was there. And till the time I’m going to stay here, it’s always going to be there.”

“So it doesn’t really matter too much. What matters is what I do on the field: try to contribute to the success of the team. That’s all my focus is right now.

And let the noise be there. You know, if there’s no noise, there’s no fun. My job is inside, their job (the media) is outside. So that’s how I look at it,” he added.