A crucial week lies ahead of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men, who flew into Adelaide on Wednesday night aware that a campaign that had been going swimmingly has hit a roadblock, hopefully temporarily so.

Tuesday’s eight-wicket loss hasn’t altered their status as tri-series table toppers, but that will change no matter what the outcome of Friday’s Australia-Sri Lanka clash at the WACA is. India will, therefore, be under some pressure to win at least one, if not both, of their matches at the Adelaide Oval — against the Aussies on Sunday, followed by the match-up against Sri Lanka on Tuesday — so as to reignite their prospects.

Despite the comprehensive drubbing at the Manuka Oval once Sri Lanka were set a revised target far more achievable than chasing down India’s 195 for five in 29 overs, it wasn’t as if India came away from Canberra without any positives. For the first time since the tri-series began 11 days back, India were able to stitch together three meaningful partnerships in their short batting stint; hearteningly, Rohit Sharma was involved in two of them as he provided another example of his ability to adjust, adapt and improvise.

Dramatic weeks

It has been a fairly dramatic last couple of weeks for the 20-year-old. Every time he has hit the crease, Rohit has caught the eye. His sweet little knock at the Gabba in the tournament opener against Australia was dotted liberally with outstanding, authentic cricket strokes. Two days later, he found out that there is no place for outward shows of emotion at this level by being docked ten percent of his match fee for lingering on at the crease after being adjudged caught behind — wrongly — off Muttiah Muralitharan.

Since then, he hasn’t been dismissed. At the MCG last Sunday, Rohit showcased a maturity way beyond his years with India making heavy weather of a modest run chase against the World champions. Requiring 160 for a famous win, India were 102 for five when Rohit was joined by his captain. Another wicket, and it could have been curtains. Dhoni was supremely strokeless but seldom troubled; Rohit kept looking for glory early on, going hard at the ball and missing repeatedly outside off, getting away only because the ball either missed the outside edge or fell short of hungry palms.

After a tentative first quarter of an hour, Rohit cut out all frills. Aware that he was fortunate to be still in the middle, the Mumbaikar was determined to make his luck count. Australia kept coming hard at him, both with ball and lip. The tall, graceful right-hander looked them squarely in the eye, and most certainly wasn’t the first one to blink. Dhoni marshalled the chase alright, but the dominant partner was the more accomplished of the two batsmen. It was only Rohit's seventh one-day international, but seeing his composure and assurance, one might to have been tempted to believe this was a battle-scarred veteran.

Tuesday at the Manuka Oval necessitated him to embrace a totally different approach. It was Rohit’s big test — he could stonewall and play the nip-and-tuck game alright, but could he cut loose when so required?

Could he, indeed?! India’s only centurion at the domestic Twenty20 level is a batsman of many gears. He can splutter and stutter along, just as he can explode without warning. His suit is not big, booming strokes — Muralitharan, effortlessly slog-swept way over mid-wicket, might disagree — but feeding off the pace of the ball, relying on timing and balance, and favouring dinks behind the stumps to as much effect as crude hoicks in front of it.

Great flourish

A 53-ball fifty translated itself into an unbeaten 64-ball 70 when India ran out of overs. The slog-sweep wasn’t his only concession to the demands of the ultra-truncated game. Without sacrificing correctness, he drove inside-out over mid-off, backed away to dab the ball over the ’keeper’s head or, with a great flourish, moved across his stumps to scoop-paddle over short fine-leg's head as the bowlers strove to find a fullish length. It was intelligent, acutely aware batting. This lad, he sure can bat.

Already, Rohit has indicated with his performances that he relishes the big occasion. The more he plays, a better understanding rival teams will have of his game. That will necessitate Rohit to come up with answers of his own.

Early evidence suggests he will. Emphatically so.