Shamik Chakrabarty in Cuttack
Rohit Sharma’s bat performed a waltz and the Barabati trilled. That 32 x 4.5-inch blade had become thin as a carrot over the past few months. On Sunday, teetering on the Lakshman rekha, the India captain used the willow to marmalise England bowling. A 76-ball century was the outcome. And as Rohit raised his bat, the nation breathed a sigh of relief.
He stood himself down in Sydney. Another failure here, and the clamour would have grown exponentially to step down before the Champions Trophy, notwithstanding that it’s a different format. A 90-ball 119 spared Indian cricket’s blushes. It was his 32nd ODI hundred and his first since his 131 against Afghanistan at the 2023 World Cup.
It was strange the way he had suddenly fallen off a cliff. Only about six months ago, in August last year, Rohit was still India’s best ODI batsman, taming the treacherous Premadasa pitches when his teammates had floundered. This was something that India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak had mentioned ahead of the second ODI. “In the last three one-dayers Rohit has played (before this series), he scored 56, 64 and 35,” Kotak had said at the pre-match press conference. “So, nearly averaging 50-plus in those last three ODIs.”
It felt like a statement of denial, especially after 31 runs in five innings in the Test series in Australia followed by a single-digit (2) score in the first ODI in England in Nagpur. Without this resurrection, conversations with chief selector Ajit Agarkar and head coach Gautam Gambhir ahead of the final team selection for the Champions Trophy (the cut-off date is February 11) could have turned uneasy. An opener as talented as Yashasvi Jaiswal was snapping at his heels. Now, even if Rohit calls time on his international career after the ICC event, he will do it on his own terms. The leeway is well-earned.
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This was his moment of reckoning, after England had posted 304 batting first. Given the batting-friendly pitch here, it was also his best chance to regain his mojo. A play-and-miss off Saqib Mahmood made everyone edgy. A Gus Atkinson break-back left a mark on his thigh before Rohit charged down the track and got a four. A thick edge flew through the slip cordon. By then, Rohit probably had decided to live by the sword and die by it. Fortune favoured the brave.
A six followed – a flick and the ball going over the mid-wicket boundary. He perished to that shot in the first ODI. Here, his timing was sweet and his mind uncluttered. A floodlights fiasco and the subsequent 35-minute stoppage in play could have affected his rhythm. Rohit allayed the fear of his fans by caressing a Mahmood delivery to the fine-leg fence. The half-century came in the ninth over and the monkey was finally off his back.
Shubman Gill played a classy knock (60, 52 balls) at the other end. But today he was a support act. The evening belonged to his skipper. The vice-captain was in the box seat.
Rohit reached his hundred in a blaze of glory – a six off Adil Rashid. His celebration was somewhat muted… Just a raised bat to acknowledge a standing ovation from the crowd. His fans started to dance on the terraces. Some waved the tricolour. Back in the dressing-room, Gambhir stood and clapped. The team was happy.
Also Read: Not his best, but undoubtedly a special Rohit Sharma hundred