Hitman shows his defiant side

Forty-nine runs from 144 balls at a strike rate of 34.03 often convey a struggle. Either the batsman is not in a good space or the bowlers are hitting the right areas far too consistently.

The latter was true as England kept the lid on India on the second day of the fourth Test at the Narendra Modi stadium in India. But Rohit Sharma wasn’t troubled in the least, save for when Ben Stokes’ effort ball undid him in the most unusually unsightly manner.

The remainder of the 236 minutes was a visual manifestation of everything right in the world. Even as batsmen from both sides have shown up with their inability to transition from white-ball cricket to wearing whites this series, Rohit’s flamboyance remains untouched and translates into purists’ delight.

He wasn’t his typical attacking self on Friday, and even looked troubled against the pacers when they got the ball to jag into him. Other than that, the delicate defiance was a treat, especially when the spinners were on.

Granted, this pitch does not have as much turn on it as the strip used for the pink-ball Test at the same venue, and certainly not as much as there was in the second Test in Chennai. But in being the highest scorer (345 runs from 7 innings) in the Anthony de Mello Trophy so far, he has shown that the pitch, the ball and even the opposition to some degree, is only as much a concern as you make it.

And since this series has revolved around the success of tweakers, it’s safe to deduce that there are few batsmen left, even in the sub-continent, with his level of artistry against spinners.

His success begins with his ability to pick line-length out of the hand and ends with minor adjustments to counter spin and bounce. He’s gifted enough to extend this to the pacers too, but against spin, you can see it unfurl without the need for replays to clarify the same.

From the left toe pointing towards mid-off to open the chest to an unobstructed transfer of weight depending on length, his movement is simple and about as efficient as it gets. There’s also very little fidgeting of the feet and the head before the bowler releases the ball.

He plays the line and lives with the consequences on tracks that turn big and often uses a half-step before the charge to get to the pitch of the ball on time.

On wickets such as this, which are only occasionally mean, he looked meditative in defence. And the approach was only so that India could wear England’s bowling thin.

Perhaps, it was his way of showing everyone else how one needs to apply themselves on pitches which turn, aka sub-continent surfaces, and otherwise. Whatever be the case, he became the fastest Asian opener to cross 1000 runs in Tests on the day, and he got to the mark in the most atypical way but with typical grace.