Matured Rohit bodes well for Indian hopes

London: Yuzvendra Chahal and his spin-twin Kuldeep Yadav were impressive, paceman Jasprit Bumrah was exceptional once again, K L Rahul seemed to have fit into the No. 4 slot in India’s opening match against South Africa but the biggest gain for India probably was Rohit Sharma’s approach to batting.

For most part of his unbeaten 122 – that helped India get off to a winning start in the World Cup on Wednesday -- he was ungainly, ugly and un-Rohit like in the face some testing conditions and probing fast bowling by a Kagiso Rabada-led bowling attack. There have been several instances of the right-hander throwing away his wicket in an attempt to hit himself out of trouble. When caution ought to have been the need of the hour, he has often disappointed with his cavalier approach.

While that strategy works on sub-continental pitches or even on the bouncy tracks of Australia where the ball nicely comes on to the bat, it is a recipe for disaster in England where the ball seams off the pitch and swings in the air.

What otherwise would be a flowing cover drive, may result in a nick to the slips here; a pull that usually sails over mid-wicket may end up being a miscued shot and a defensive push, maybe feathered to wicketkeeper as the ball jags around.

As Rohit edged, miscued, got hit but survived by the skin of his teeth, you did expect him to go on the offensive as has been his wont. The vice-captain, however, respected the tough batting conditions and the incisive fast bowling on the day and came out a winner at the end of it. Not surprisingly, skipper Virat Kohli termed it the opener’s “best ODI innings”.

“I think in my opinion this is by far his best ODI innings because of the kind of pressure the first game brings from a World Cup point of view,” he emphasised. “And then I know, as a batsman, when you go in and a few balls bounce like that, it's not easy to gather yourself again and play in a calm manner. A lot of times batsmen tend to hit their way out of the situation. But he was very composed, he was very -- he's played so many games, we expect a lot of maturity and a lot of responsibility from someone like him,” he observed.

Kohli also termed India’s overall performance on the day, that resulted in a six-wicket win, as “professional effort” and no one was more professional than Rohit. His 23rd century, ninth overall highest and the third Indian batsman with most ODI centuries behind Sachin Tendulkar and Kohli, didn’t have his signature stamp. He did pull off his exquisite drives, daring pulls and hooks when he looked assured, but till that stage he was willing – quite uncharacteristically -- to grind it out. The fortitude, the patience and maturity he displayed were exemplary and augur well for India going forward in the tournament.

“In my opinion, of all the brilliant innings I have seen him play, I think this, for me, was the top of the pile because of the way he compiled his innings and at no stage did we feel like, or he felt like he is going to throw it away. I think controlling the game so beautifully from one end and allowing the others to display themselves and string in small little partnerships, looking at the fact that they were only chasing 228, he played the perfect innings for that kind of a situation on that kind of a wicket against a bowling attack that was threatening to pick up wickets at any stage. So, yeah, in my opinion, by far his best knock,” Kohli reasoned.

Indeed, you can’t dispute the Indian skipper’s remarks. Given the conditions and the significance of the occasion, it was an innings worth its weight in gold. One whose importance exceeds far beyond just the numbers.