Rohit Sharma’s cavalier batting during the pursuit of a rather small target and the manner in which India’s bowlers did the job expected of them were highlights of the ICC Cricket World Cup league game in Ahmedabad on Saturday, which kept fans around the world glued to screens for hours on end. Yet, it was Rohit’s sparkling captaincy that stole the thunder.
At the end of the game, it could be said that he ticked all boxes on the captaincy front – managing the bowling resources well enough for the side to remain competitive even when Pakistan’s third-wicket pair of Babar Azam (50, 58 balls), the skipper, and Mohammed Rizwan (49, 69 balls) were building a strong foundation with an 82-run stand.
Any regrets about having left R Ashwin, the premier off-spinner, out of the XI were quickly eased as five bowlers finished with two wickets each. And, in a manner of speaking, they would not grudge sharing the limelight with their captain for having marshalled the attack with clarity of thought and sharp decision-making.
He had invited Pakistan to bat first and when that decision seemed to be spiraling downhill, with Pakistan at 155-2 in the 30th over and India looking at a 300-run chase for victory, he turned it around with an inspired move. Mohammed Siraj was brought back into the attack, and the tireless fast bowler rewarded him with Babar Azam’s wicket, as the ball sneaked past the bat to hit off stump.
From there on, the Pakistan batting unraveled at such a pace that it could well have given a collapsing house of cards an inferiority complex. From that comfortable position at 155-2, they were bowled out for 191, losing the last eight wickets in the span of just 13.2 overs. And instead of a tricky target, India went out to bat knowing that the task ahead was a straightforward one.
If the decision to recall Siraj to the bowling crease for his sixth over and, despite Babar and Rizwan striking him for a four each, persist with him for a seventh paid him dividends, Rohit was not one to let things drift thereafter. Kuldeep Yadav tied the inexperienced middle-order duo of Saud Shakeel and Iftikhar Ahmed in knots, and sent them back to the hut.
The Indian captain, with the anticipation of a chess grandmaster hastening the end game, then summoned Jasprit Bumrah to the attack. Bumrah summoned up a peach of a slow off-cutter to slide past Rizwan’s bat and clip the off-bail. He added Shadab Khan’s wicket in the next over to make Rohit smile in delight at each of his moves producing results.
There was hint of such clarity early on when he persisted with Siraj – picked ahead of Mohammed Shami in what would have been a tough decision in the first place – for his fourth over. Siraj claimed his maiden Cricket World Cup wicket in his third game, trapping the free-stroking Abdulla Shafique leg before with a cross-seam delivery that did not bounce much off the pitch.
Even in an emotionally charged game such as this, the quiet conversation between two pairs of Indian eyes was a moment to cherish. Amid thousands of cheering fans and the relieved celebrations of the 11 players on the field, the eye contact between the skipper and Siraj told a story of its own.
There was a gleam in the eyes of the bowler and his captain, perhaps in acknowledgment of something they had discussed – like bowling with a scrambled seam to make the most of the low bounce on offer – having delivered the goods. Rohit followed that up with a calm and measured approach to the task on hand.
To add to his efforts on the field, his relentless attack on Pakistan’s new-ball bowlers ensured that there would be no slip-ups. By the time Virat Kohli was out to an uncharacteristic slog, the run-rate was close to eight an over. Indeed, Saturday was a day on which everything Rohit touched turned gold. A game that had the potential to live up to its billing as the most-watched – and fiercely contested – of the World Cup fizzled out into a rather one-sided contest. Indian fans around the world would love this team to continue in such dominant fashion all the way to November 19.