Rohit Sharma was in a hurry. But like always, he had that extra micro-second to look all class while turning the belligerent mode on. Not many in world cricket – past or present – can manage to do so and not lose shape in the process. Against Pakistan, he was like an American muscle car in a drag race and sounded like a well-tuned sports engine. All along, there wasn’t a single screech of the tyre too.
From the first delivery, the “chatak” sound off his blade was therapeutic. There was a dash of elegance, high dose of class and sublime timing every time he sent the ball to the ropes or over it. Rarely does he look ugly and goes about doing business in typical nonchalant fashion, one shot at a time.
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From the pulls to the drives to the cuts to the maximums, the capacity crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium was in for a feast. And they deserved every bit of it, didn’t they?
“Rohit… Rohit…”
Braving the heat to backing the bowlers when a partnership was growing, they were vocal and turned even the smallest of moments into a celebration. The oohs, the aahs and the boohs! They were totally into it and the sea of blue was right behind the Men in Blue. The moment of real throat test arrived when India openers Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma came out to bat and they were just waiting to make their presence felt. One roar at a time.
Rohit’s start not only batted Pakistan out of the game but also played to the gallery which was waiting for reasons to scream their lungs out and “Rohit, Rohit” reverberated in the ears every time the Indian captain would send the fielders on leather hunt. If India’s performance was a proper spectacle for Ahmedabad, Rohit was the real showstopper with his touch, class and poised grace.
The show started in Delhi vs Afghanistan and has continued. Opposition changed, venue changed, situation changed but Rohit and his approach remained the same. Unlike the Afghanistan game, where he was sedate in first couple of overs, it was I for Intent written all over his 63-ball 86-run knock, laced with six boundaries and six gorgeous sixes. That’s the thing with Rohit, who holds the record for most number of sixes, he makes even six-hitting look like a work of art. And he doesn’t just clear the ropes, he hits them long and back into the stands.
The right-hander got his first opportunity to flex muscles in the seventh over of the game when Shaheen Shah Afridi banged one short. Rohit’s eyes would have lit up as he dispatched it way back into the stands. It was the first maximum of the match and the first of the many Rohit would go on to hit during his flowing innings.
With Rohit, the flow was always there but it was the right template which was missing from his ODI game.
By his own admission, he has looked to up the tempo in last couple of years and has squandered quite a few starts in the process. Early days in the World Cup, but the knocks vs Afghanistan and Pakistan have now assured that the code is cracked and it’s going to take some doing to stop him in the World Cup.
From 50 off 36 balls to 66 off 50 balls to 86 off 63 balls, there were phases in the game, especially after the wicket of Virat Kohli, where he shifted a gear down but the moment he saw Shreyas Iyer getting his eye in, not only did he switched to top gear but fired a no2 (Nitrous oxide) cylinder along the way too. Doing so, he pushed the side near the chequered flag before falling short of what could have been his 8th hundred in ODI World Cups.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 191 in 42.5 overs (Babar Azam 50, Mohammad Rizwan 49; Jasprit Bumrah 2-19, Hardik Pandya 2-34) lost to India 192-3 in 30.3 overs (Rohit Sharma 86, Shreyas Iyer 53 not out; Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-36, Hasan Ali 1-34) by seven wickets
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