He made 64 runs off the last 14 balls and a 100 at a strike-rate of 170. And then back-to-back Super-Over heroics ahead of his younger teammates. Rohit Sharma will be mighty pleased with this effort after two consecutive ducks. What this knock has done is helped silence all noise. It will now allow him to build the team for the T20 World Cup in peace. Rohit, anyone who watched him bat last night would agree, started out scratchily. One or two edges, a few missing the edge by not much, and it seemed the skipper was feeling the pressure. With the scoreboard reading 22-4, onus was on him to bat deep.
Another failure on the back of two ducks and Rohit’s head would have been on the social media chopping block. Shrill pitched YouTube flunkies who make a living out of abuse, with little understanding of the sport, would have jumped on him as a favourite pastime and reason would be lost amid all the shouting. The bottom line – Rohit had to score big and do something that would quieten the noise. And he did. Pacing his innings well, once he found his groove, the ball started to disappear to all corners of the ground. Things stayed the same in the Super Over, showing his class. That’s what great players can do. Once in four games a Rohit or a Virat Kohli will stand up with a stellar knock and that’s why the selectors have decided to punt on them one final time.
Take the last Karim Janat over and the Super Overs as examples. All Rohit did was stay still. He knew the bowler was under pressure and would bowl to his strengths. Each time the Afghan bowlers did so, Rohit punished them. He was winning the mental battle and pushing the Indian score past 200 and almost beyond Afghanistan.
Much has been written on why the selectors backed Rohit and Virat for the T20 World Cup. More so when youngsters like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad are on song. The reason was borne out last night. At 22-4, you need a special skillset to turn the match around, and only few like Rohit or Kohli can do that. In a team, you need every base covered, and the presence of Rohit and Kohli will ensure India is ready for all scenarios at the World Cup.
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There is no question that Rohit needs to be consistent. They all do. He himself will agree that one in four matches can be improved on. But then a hundred every four games in T20 cricket is highly acceptable, and with Rohit, that’s what you will get. If he gets going, he will bat the opposition out of the game in a way few can, and that’s why he remains India’s best bet at the top of the order. His leadership has been stellar and with runs under his belt, he will now approach the red-ball series against England in a much relaxed frame of mind. The Ravi Bishnoi call in the second Super Over was proof of how good a reader of the game he is.
Time to say a word on the ‘Ians’ on social media. Whatever ‘Ian’ you are, Rohitian or Viratian, it is time to stop being one and stop abusing the other. While the Viratians were abusing Rohit on days one and two, the Rohitians decided to avenge it last night. Sadly, both sets of people are way off the mark. And it is a pathetic sign of our times that these so-called fans feel that abusing another icon is proof of loyalty.
Kohli’s 16-ball 29 in the second game had helped set the tempo and if this is the way he bats, it will ensure India get a 60-run power play more often than not. Add to this his fielding, and you know why he is indispensable.
So for all the ‘Ians’, it is time to shut up. Without peddling agendas, it is time to accept that both these players have made the team based on performance, and Rohit’s effort last night was enough proof of intent and what the captain wants his team to do. While Rinku Singh too played a stellar hand and is now making a healthy habit of it, this series, may I say again, was about Rohit and Kohli. A C-list bilateral series with little context was made relevant by the inclusion of these two greats.
And the truth is, the selectors stand vindicated. The call paid dividends and, for once, every naysayer is silent. That’s what the selectors had prayed for and that’s what they got. The 100 has made sure that come the IPL, Rohit will play with a free mind knowing full well that his form is no longer under the scanner. Rather, he has done enough to start focussing on the job on hand, to try and ensure he goes a step further than he did as captain of India in Ahmedabad last November.
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