November of 2013 was the relevant year. The renowned Sachin Tendulkar was competing in his final bilateral match for the international stage, a two-Test series against the West Indies. Tendulkar's farewell has overshadowed all else in India. It almost seemed as if the other 10 players were irrelevant. Fans were on an emotional roller coaster as a 24-year career was set to come to an end. The Eden Gardens in Kolkata and the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai were selected as Tendulkar's final two playing grounds. Showtime had come.

In his final match for India, Tendulkar struck a masterfully constructed 74 before being removed for 10 in the first Test match in Kolkata. It should be remembered that Cheteshwar Pujara had scored 100 runs in the same innings, yet all anyone could talk about was his 74 runs. India completed the game and defeated the West Indies by an innings score. Tendulkar rode out into the distance once the series was finished.

Few people were aware that even though Tendulkar's career was coming to an end, another incredibly gifted Indian batsman began his Test career during the same series. Rohit Sharma, who played in his first Test in Kolkata, scored a colossal 177 runs, becoming the 14th Indian batsman to do so in a first-ever match. In Mumbai, where he then began what seemed to be a brilliant Test career for Rohit, who by then was also relishing his second-coming in ODIs, he followed it up with another century, a score of 111 not out.

But surprisingly, Rohit's Test career failed to take off after it. Rohit played the rare Test but found it difficult to maintain his spot in India's starting XI as Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, and Pujara rose to prominence in Indian cricket's middle order. Veteran Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik discussed how the star India batter had to deal with disappointment in the first half of his Test career by looking back at Rohit's bright start and the way it went off the rails.

"From an Indian perspective, I doubt many Test cricketers have had a start as successful as Rohit's. After scoring hundreds in each of his first two games, everyone assumed that he was the big deal and would provide all the answers to our questions regarding Sachin's retirement from Test cricket. However, Rohit had to deal with several curve balls throughout the course of the length of time because life and sports, it turns out, are never exactly what you think they are "Karthik stated in the Cricbuzz documentary series Summer Stalemate.