ST. LUCIA: It was the first media interaction with
Rohit Sharma
in this tournament, on the eve of India’s
T20 World Cup
opener with Ireland in New York. Normally, going into a tournament of this magnitude, you would expect a slightly cagey captain, someone holding his cards to his chest. In a departure from the trend, though, Rohit seemed extremely frank.
It seemed he was tired of carrying the burden of a defeat in the ODI World Cup final in November last year and was just happy to let himself go.
When the captain says right at the beginning of the tournament that “our opening partnership won’t change through the tournament while the rest will go up and down as per necessity”, you know something has changed in Rohit. It is this sense of freedom in every step that the Indian captain has exercised over the last one month that paid rich dividends in a game of massive significance for India.
It was his 41-ball 92, easily the best innings of this World Cup by any batter, in St. Lucia on Monday that left Australia on the brink of ouster. Afghanistan’s subsequent victory over Bangladesh eventually led to Australia’s early exit.
It was the 28 that Rohit took off Mitchell Starc in the third over of the game that set the tone for this onslaught. Starc’s pace-bowling partner Josh Hazlewood doffed his hat to the effort.
“I’ve seen Rohit do that a few times now. He’s a world-class player, so if you’re a bit off your game that can happen. It just looked like he obviously targeted the boundary with the wind there for a while and then we probably reacted and then he hit a few on the other side as well. He’s a class act and you expect him to do that a couple of times through the tournament,” Hazlewood said.
Playing without any sense of inhibition is a practised art for some, but for Rohit it comes naturally. That’s what he used to be when he was growing up as a young batter, catching the eye of one and all. Now at the twilight of his career, it is this same flamboyance that makes him look so special when it comes off.
“The idea is to be not just one-dimensional. And that is something that was going through my mind all through. I was thinking to hit the ball everywhere possible. And when you keep an open mind and not think about just playing one shot, you can open up and access all sides of the field,” Rohit said.
While run-making wasn’t exactly a piece of cake in St Lucia — the others struggled after Rohit’s departure, it was the sheer effortlessness of the skipper’s batting that kept the dugout relaxed.
Indian pacer Arshdeep Singh explained how the team feels when Rohit takes charge the way he did.
“We just enjoyed it a lot. When he hits those long sixes, it doesn’t feel like he is hitting the ball. He handles the ball with love, yet it goes far,” Arshdeep said.
That’s the beauty of Rohit, who has been his own man through this World Cup. Happy, relaxed, sharing the odd laugh with people around, spending time with his family once off the field — the pressure-cooker situation of opening and leading India in an ICC tournament hasn’t bothered him. And now it’s about keeping it going for two more games.
The final act of this drama demands a perfect ending.
English (US) ·