Two years after being ignored by New Zealand selectors, Martin Guptill announced his retirement from international cricket on January 8.

He had already left the middle contract after being snubbed for a long time.

Guptill was so in love with the opening slot that he even sacrificed his Test career for it.

When he struggled as an opening batsman in Test cricket, the team management made him eligible at number five. In three Test matches, Guptill thrived at 5, with an astonishing average of 68.60 and a high score of 189.

He later left the middle order because he wanted to dominate the early 20 overs where the ball moved in a different way.

The problem with Guptill was that he didn’t trust his attacking instincts enough to thrive as an opener in Test matches. Guptill seemed impatient with the long balls and corridor of uncertainty. He was always ready to cut the ball or, better yet, hit it straight to the ground.

The high backlift, fully supported by the long arms, gave Guptill extra confidence to play this shot and made him one of the best exponents of the ball game with a straight bat.

But whether it was the conventional straight shot or the 120-yard six towards mid-wicket, Guptill’s bat flow traced perfect semi-circles.

The transfer of power in the last millisecond and subsequent holding of the pose – which sometimes made it seem like you weren’t looking – were breathtaking for the game’s romantic admirers.

However, this beauty was accompanied by hard hands and, later, footwork. The red ball moving at the start of the innings makes it more difficult for any player with “lazy grace” to stick out their front foot and defend the ball or leave it lying down.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has faced a similar challenge throughout his Test career.

Of course, it is no coincidence that this weakness, along with the attractive pull shots, is common in Sharma and Guptill.

For almost a third of their careers, Sharma and Guptill suffered similar fates, albeit at different stages. While Sharma didn’t get the chances he wanted early in his career, Guptill faced the same situation in the middle phase, especially in Test matches.

Both players struggled to convert their good starts into great successes, but when they did, the world was in awe. Sharma’s double centuries in One-Day Internationals (ODIs) set world records and Guptill was no different. His 237 at the 2015 World Cup is still the highest score by an individual and a New Zealander in a limited-overs World Cup.

Of New Zealand’s top four finishes, Guptill has achieved three, all in difficult scoring conditions. When he scored 180 (from 138 balls) against South Africa, the second highest scorer was Ross Taylor, who completed his runs at a meager strike rate of 68.

Interestingly, there was also a hint of Taylor’s slog sweep, with Guptill bending his knee and going for the more square part (square leg) of the leg-side region.

Guptill represented New Zealand in 198 ODI matches, finishing third with 7,346 runs, behind Taylor and Stephen Fleming. In terms of hundreds, he ranks second with 18 hundreds, behind Taylor’s 21.

He played 174 of the 198 games as an opener, posting a lower-than-expected average of 41.73.

In 122 international Twenty20 (T20) matches, Guptill amassed over 3,500 runs, making him almost a permanent opener for the team.

As a limited-overs cricketer, Guptill was the ultimate team player. Although Guptill’s nature is to take his time, prepare and then make the big shots, he went on the offensive from the start after Brendon McCullum – New Zealand’s top striker – hung up his boots.

Guptill’s strike was a visual contrast of the highest order. If he executed his shots with confidence, the bat would tear into the ball, like a skilled chef pushing his knife through a slice of bread.

But if he didn’t, it would be a sign of his defense, and there would be a feeling of subconsciousness even if the ball had hit the middle of the bat.

Guptill was also an elite athlete who never stopped working on his flexibility and fitness. It has made him such a fielder that the International Cricket Council (ICC) has released a compilation of just his exploits in the World Cup on YouTube.

If New Zealand needed quick hands at slip, Guptill would step up. If they had a plan to dismiss Steve Smith on the leg side, Guptill would be thrown into the hotspot to contain Smith’s spin shots.

At that point it was Guptill. At short leg it was Guptill. And at deep square leg, it was Guptill who delivered MS Dhoni’s famous run-out with a direct hit that tragically sent India out of the 2019 World Cup.

Even the infamous four extra runs in the final game of that World Cup were due to Ben Stokes interfering with a throw from Guptill’s hands.

Guptill also happened to be the last batsman to be dismissed in the game as England recorded their Super Over victory by a narrow margin.

Any of these moments could top Guptill’s highlight reel. But something else that happened during the World Cup characterizes Guptill for me.

He struggled with poor form in this tournament and was not in good mental shape. Still, he was given important fielding positions and an opportunity to shine in the Super Over.

That was the kind of trust Guptill’s team had in him. If only he had trusted himself as much as she did. Ultimately, that was the difference between him and Sharma.