MATCH STORIES
Follow UsPrior to the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Colombo on August 2 (Friday), Rohit Sharma last played an ODI 258 days ago, in the final of the 2023 World Cup against Australia.
But if you were someone unaware of this fact, never in a million years would you have guessed that this was a batter who was actually playing 50-over cricket after an extended break.
No ODI match practice? No problem. On the night, Rohit picked up from right where he left in the 2023 ODI World Cup, hammering 58 runs off just 47 balls to get India off to a flyer in a modest run chase.
Rohit’s stupendous 50-over World Cup was defined by his impact and his cameos up top more than the total runs he scored.
There, the skipper led from the front — and led by example — game in and game out, and set the tone for the team with his blitzes in the powerplay. In the first 10 overs of the World Cup, Rohit had a stupendous strike rate of 135.02.
Playing the format for the first time in 10 months, the team India skipper didn’t skip a beat as he brought out his 2023 WC avatar, smoking 54 runs off 35 balls in the powerplay, crossing the 50-run mark in the first 10 overs only for the third time in his career.
A trademark of Rohit in the 2023 WC was how he asserted his dominance very early on, not just taking the attack to the bowlers early on but dampening their spirits by tearing into them. He often did this by using his feet against the quicks and thumping them into the stands.
This same belligerence was on display in Colombo on August 2nd (Friday) as on just the second ball of the chase, the India skipper danced down the track and hammered Asitha Fernando for a huge six to lay down a marker.
This hit set the tone for the chase, but it was Rohit’s assault on debutant Mohamed Shiraz that rattled and shook the hosts. The debutant had started off very decently in his first over, conceding just four, but he got taken for 15 runs off his second over.
The fourth ball of Shiraz’s second over featured one of the shots of the game, with Rohit nonchalantly flicking an inswinger over the fence.
The India skipper’s early assault on pace forced Charith Asalanka to turn to spin, but Rohit asserted his dominance early against Dunith Wellalage too, taking two boundaries of the left-arm spinner’s first over.
Just like that, Rohit moved to 37* off 21 balls and India were off to a flyer, getting to 48/0 at the end of the fifth over.
Another boundary off Fernando got the India captain to 41* off 24 balls, and, at this point, the 37-year-old was eyeing scoring his fastest ever fifty in ODI cricket, with the previous record being 50 off 27 balls against Bangladesh two years ago.
A very fine eighth over from Akila Dananjaya denied Rohit his fastest ever ODI fifty, but he got to his half-century in style in the 10th over, lofting the same bowler for a six over deep square leg.
Not for the first time in the past 18 months, an ODI century was there for the taking for the India skipper. But, just like he did in the World Cup, the 37-year-old perished after a rapid start.
On this occasion, he misjudged the length of a full one from Wellalage and paid the price, getting trapped in front attempting a slog sweep.
A century would have been nice, but you bet both India and Rohit wouldn’t be bothered one bit by the dismissal. The skipper did the job for the side, and, ultimately, that is all that matters.
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