As the festive season tails off, many of us would have had a reminder of a childhood experience. Unwrap a present, open a box, take out the object that you so want and marvel at it, revelling in the moment of sheer surprise and joy. Now, for some reason, if you need to put said object back in the same box, with all the packaging it came in, this is almost impossible.
Try as you may —retrace steps, squeeze and fold, push and pull —but you just cannot return things to the state they once were.
Some clever kids manage the feat, and one such was Rohit Sharma, in Adelaide, in the second ODI against Australia. After the return of RoKo was severely truncated in the first match, here was a chance to take a look again.
Australia won the toss and helpfully put India in to bat. The Rohit on display was something fans of Indian cricket have not seen in this format for a while, and something fans of the Hitman have longed for in recent times. Here was Rohit 3.0, which was essentially the batsman dialling back 2.0 to return to the batting roots that brought him so much success in 50-over cricket.
Rohit had turned India’s ODI game on its head when he was captain, abandoning the traditional approach of starting slow, building a base and launching at the death with wickets in hand. Instead, he demanded an all-out, nonstop attack and led from the front, changing his game. This meant fewer big scores for the individual, but a huge impact at the top of the order.
Now, Shubman Gill is in harness as captain, backed up by Gauram Gambhir in the coaching department, and Rohit has reverted to being the batting builder at the top of the order.
The conditions and the bowling certainly played a part: Josh Hazlewood hit the perfect length, his rhythm was excellent, and in a rare spell of near-perfect bowling, he offered no loose deliveries. Rohit seemed to sense this early on and left the ball alone repeatedly without allowing himself to get perturbed. Modern batsmen like the feel of bat on ball and are quite happy to chase, and here was Rohit batting as though he had 100 overs at his disposal.
At one stage, Rohit went 17 consecutive deliveries off Hazlewood without scoring. But, when he did play, there was nothing tentative about his footwork, economical and compact, nothing rusty about his timing and nothing off with his placement.
The two hooks for six in the 19th over off Mitchell Owen showed that it was not as though Rohit had shelved attacking intent or the tools needed to execute. But this was shot-making allied with risk-management. Here Rohit waited for the right ball, did not look to manufacture the shot, and was perfectly placed to cash in.
In the end, Rohit took up as many as 97 balls to score 73. But, you could sense that the gap between runs scored and balls faced was well on the way to being closed when Rohit was dismissed.
Players speak of the challenges in shifting between formats. Almost always, they say that it is easier to go from a longer format to a shorter one. Here was Rohit — in the only format he now plays — going from one mindset of batting, all freedom and expression, to another built on consolidation, value creation and playing a tightly defined role. Every move Rohit makes is now watched closely. And he has Virat Kohli walking in similar shoes at the moment. Kohli bagged ducks in the first two ODIs, having never been dismissed without scoring in 29 previous such innings in Australia, but he too has to rediscover his precise role in the batting stack.
It was widely believed that Kohli had the better chance of making it to the next 50-over World Cup, about two years from now. After all, Kohli’s fitness levels are never in doubt. Rohit, for his part, trained hard to get match fit, dropping eight kilograms in the process.
In the short span of two matches, Rohit has found a way to bring to the fore his considerable experience, the wisdom he has acquired along the way and the undeniable skills he has honed through years of competition at the highest level.
Try as you may —retrace steps, squeeze and fold, push and pull —but you just cannot return things to the state they once were.
Some clever kids manage the feat, and one such was Rohit Sharma, in Adelaide, in the second ODI against Australia. After the return of RoKo was severely truncated in the first match, here was a chance to take a look again.
Australia won the toss and helpfully put India in to bat. The Rohit on display was something fans of Indian cricket have not seen in this format for a while, and something fans of the Hitman have longed for in recent times. Here was Rohit 3.0, which was essentially the batsman dialling back 2.0 to return to the batting roots that brought him so much success in 50-over cricket.
Rohit had turned India’s ODI game on its head when he was captain, abandoning the traditional approach of starting slow, building a base and launching at the death with wickets in hand. Instead, he demanded an all-out, nonstop attack and led from the front, changing his game. This meant fewer big scores for the individual, but a huge impact at the top of the order.
Now, Shubman Gill is in harness as captain, backed up by Gauram Gambhir in the coaching department, and Rohit has reverted to being the batting builder at the top of the order.
The conditions and the bowling certainly played a part: Josh Hazlewood hit the perfect length, his rhythm was excellent, and in a rare spell of near-perfect bowling, he offered no loose deliveries. Rohit seemed to sense this early on and left the ball alone repeatedly without allowing himself to get perturbed. Modern batsmen like the feel of bat on ball and are quite happy to chase, and here was Rohit batting as though he had 100 overs at his disposal.
At one stage, Rohit went 17 consecutive deliveries off Hazlewood without scoring. But, when he did play, there was nothing tentative about his footwork, economical and compact, nothing rusty about his timing and nothing off with his placement.
The two hooks for six in the 19th over off Mitchell Owen showed that it was not as though Rohit had shelved attacking intent or the tools needed to execute. But this was shot-making allied with risk-management. Here Rohit waited for the right ball, did not look to manufacture the shot, and was perfectly placed to cash in.
In the end, Rohit took up as many as 97 balls to score 73. But, you could sense that the gap between runs scored and balls faced was well on the way to being closed when Rohit was dismissed.
Players speak of the challenges in shifting between formats. Almost always, they say that it is easier to go from a longer format to a shorter one. Here was Rohit — in the only format he now plays — going from one mindset of batting, all freedom and expression, to another built on consolidation, value creation and playing a tightly defined role. Every move Rohit makes is now watched closely. And he has Virat Kohli walking in similar shoes at the moment. Kohli bagged ducks in the first two ODIs, having never been dismissed without scoring in 29 previous such innings in Australia, but he too has to rediscover his precise role in the batting stack.
It was widely believed that Kohli had the better chance of making it to the next 50-over World Cup, about two years from now. After all, Kohli’s fitness levels are never in doubt. Rohit, for his part, trained hard to get match fit, dropping eight kilograms in the process.
In the short span of two matches, Rohit has found a way to bring to the fore his considerable experience, the wisdom he has acquired along the way and the undeniable skills he has honed through years of competition at the highest level.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com.)
