He’s back. Rohit Sharma has rediscovered his shots, shots that earned him the moniker ‘Hitman’. And on his hitlist in Cuttack on Sunday were the England bowlers. Any doubt what the result was?
In the first ODI in Nagpur, Rohit managed only a couple of runs. Like that Nagpur pitch, the one in Cuttack for the second ODI was flat as well. Maybe flatter. And on such pitches, especially if the opposition has a bowling attack that’s one-dimensional, it’s an invitation to a batter like Rohit to make merry.
That’s exactly what he did at the Barabati Stadium as the India captain produced a blazing 119 off just 90 balls that led his side to a four-wicket win over England with 33 balls to spare, chasing a 305-run target. With that, India also sealed the series, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead.
As many as 12 boundaries and seven maximums adorned Rohit’s innings as he turned the clock back to replicate his form of the 2023 ODI World Cup. The England attack, sporting a newer look with quicks Mark Wood and Gus Atkinson replacing Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse and with the injured Jacob Bethell giving way to Jamie Overton, kept dishing out deliveries at Rohit’s arc and he kept punishing them.
On such a wicket, quicks needed to vary their pace and surprise the batsman with yorker-length balls, something that Overton did to dislodge Shubman Gill’s off-stump. However, that happened only after Gill had hammered 60 off 52 balls in his 136-run opening stand with Rohit, which came in just 16.3 overs. That delivery aside, the England pacers, particularly Wood, kept bowling trash close to the 150kmph mark and Rohit diligently blasted them one after another.
Adil Rashid, the lone specialist spinner in the English line-up, was the bowler Rohit had to be careful against. The pitch did have some turn on offer. But the experienced leg-spinner too wasn’t spared by Rohit.
He even brought out the reverse sweep against Rashid, a shot Rohit hasn’t been seen playing too often. Rashid, on his part, had a poor day as he gifted too many boundary balls to Rohit. And to Gill as well. The ball that turned a bit to take the edge off Virat Kohli’s bat was probably the only good one from Rashid in his 10 overs.
Kohli’s rough patch continued, as he scored just 5. But that Rohit has returned to form, batting in the style he knows best, will calm India’s nerves in the lead-up to the Champions Trophy.
The game was held up twice during India’s reply because of one of the malfunctioning floodlight towers at the Barabati. After six overs, players had to wait for some time, and then again after the first ball of the seventh over was bowled, with the scoreboard reading 48/0. On the second occasion, the players had to be off the ground for at least half an hour.
Those interruptions though did not bother Rohit as he went about his job. Racing to a much-needed half-century off 30 balls, which he brought up with a cut for a boundary, Rohit later registered his 32nd ODI hundred in a majestic manner — charging down the ground against Rashid and sending the ball over mid-off for a maximum.
Rohit’s dismissal off a part-timer like Liam Livingstone wasn’t quite expected. But the job was almost as good as done as India required 85 with more than 20 overs to go when he departed. Shreyas Iyer (44) and Axar Patel (41 not out) then ensured the door remained shut on England.
Jadeja’s spell
Following his 3/26 off nine overs in the series opener, Ravindra Jadeja played another crucial role with the ball, striking thrice again and conceding only 35 off his full quota of overs. In other words, Jadeja’s scalps Ben Duckett (65) and Joe Root (69) made a big difference in the visitors reaching 304 and not 350.
Leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy (1/54), replacing Kuldeep Yadav, didn’t do badly on his ODI debut, dismissing Phil Salt.
