Gros Islet (St Lucia), June 25: He is a legend, a maverick, a demolition man for the opposition bowlers if he gets going.
After the shocking defeat in the ICC ODI World Cup 2023 final against the Australians on November 19 last in Ahmedabad, in front of the home crowd, he was shattered. Went almost incommunicado for days.
But he returned with more determination. Beaten the Aussies in the Test series and on Monday he was the architect of the revenge win against the Australans in the Super Eight T20 World Cup match in the Caribbean.
India skipper Rohit Sharma, who was named the Player of the Match against Australia for his stupendous 92 off 41, said that '50s and 100 doesn't matter' for him as he wanted to put pressure on the bowlers early in the game.
After scoring a half-century in India's tournament opener against Ireland, Rohit failed to leave a mark with a bat as he registered a score of 13, 3, 8, 23 in the next matches before getting back to his usual self against Australia in a crucial Super Eight clash of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on Monday night.
Rohit was in the mood to go all out from the word go, standing head and shoulders above everyone to pulverise Australia by hitting seven fours and eight sixes at a strike rate of 224.39, leaving fans breathless.
Speaking about whether scoring a 100 was on his mind during the match, the Indian skipper said that the 50s and 100 does not matter as he was trying to play shots wherever it was necessary.
"I told you in my last post-match presentation, that the 50s and 100 don't matter. I wanted to come back with the same tempo and carry on playing shots wherever it is necessary. I wanted to try and put the bowlers under pressure, let them think where to bowl and what to do when you're set like that," said Rohit after the match.
"You want to carry on and make big scores, yes, but at the same time, you know, you want to let the bowlers also think where the next shot is coming from. And that is something I thought I managed to do that pretty well today - Trying to access all sides of the field and hitting just not just in one area, but all sides of the field," he added.
Besides Rohit's batting carnage, Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, and Hardik Pandya chipped in with 31, 28, and 27 not out respectively to take India to a fabulous total of 205/5, where 15 sixes were hit – the most maximums hit by them in a T20 World Cup game.
In response, with Kuldeep Yadav taking 2-24, including dismissing Glenn Maxwell, followed by Arshdeep Singh picking 3-37, India restricted Australia to 181/7 in the 20 overs, signing off from the Super Eight stage by maintaining their unbeaten record.
India’s next game is against defending champions England in the second semifinal in Guyana on June 27, with the winner progressing to the final in Barbados, scheduled on June 29.
The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 is streaming live and free on mobile on Disney+ Hotstar.
Perhaps, this would be the final World Cup for Rohit. Will he be able to sign off with the World Cup trophy. Well, he and his teammates need two more victories to fulfil that coveted dream. (With IANS support)
