During the final of the Nidahas Trophy between Bangladesh and India at Colombo, Rohit Sharma scored his 14th T20I half-century which played the role of a catalyst in an Indian win which was otherwise brought to the fore by wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik.

Chasing a target of 167 runs to win, the usual pair of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan had opened the batting for India. contradictory to what he had done in the series so far, Rohit Sharma started on a highly positive note, hitting a four and a couple of sixes off Mehedy Hasan Miraz’s first over.

Despite India losing Shikhar Dhawan (10) and Suresh Raina (0) in the third and the fourth over, Rohit Sharma played in the way he has started his innings. The fact that he hit Nazmul Islam for a four and a six in the fifth over was evident enough that the wickets falling on the other end would not have affect his approach towards the chase.

Rohit Sharma’s strike rate took a hit after the powerplay got over. He had scored 39 (21) in the powerplay. In the next 21 balls, he ended up scoring 17 runs without any boundary. When he got out in the 14th over, he had scored 56 (42) with the help of four fours and three sixes.

Rohit Sharma might have slowed down a bit towards the second half of his innings but his firework during the start of the Indian innings provided crucial momentum to the Indian innings. Had he been bogged down by the fall of two wickets in the powerplay, India’s task would have been much arduous.

It was Rohit Sharma’s calculative captain’s innings which held the Indian top order together. India eventually won the match on the last ball of the innings when needing five runs to win, Dinesh Karthik scored a six to win the match for his team.