The 2024 T20 World Cup saw a masterclass in blow hitting by Rohit Sharma as he led the Indian batting against Australia. Sharma battered a quick 92 from just 41 deliveries, leaving the Australian bowlers, especially Mitchell Starc, at the receiving end. Sharma decided to unleash his fury at the beginning of the Indian innings. A full toss was offered first ball from Starc, who was at his pace.
The Indian captain punished the bowler to deposit the ball over extra cover for a six. The next delivery met with the same fate, going over the boundary again. He had sniffed a chance, so Starc attempted a deviation in his approach by being a tad bit short; Rohit had other ideas, though and nonchalantly lofted over mid-on, and the ball raced to the ropes. Starc had to carry on with his Aufgaben because the fifth ball of his over was poorly directed, and Sharma tonked another six over mid-wicket.
A brief respite followed with a dot, but even a wide delivery was creamed. The final ball of the over top-edged Sharma, flying over the third man for yet another six. Twenty-eight runs came in that over from Starc, pretty clear in showing who was in dominance—Rohit Sharma.
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Reflecting over the forgettable spell, Starc did admit to his strife. “Well, I’ve played Rohit a lot,” he said. “He did have a great tournament, especially against us. He seemed to target the wind in St Lucia to his advantage. The runs conceded from my end were significantly higher comparing it with the others. Honestly, I bowled five bad balls, and he hit them all for sixes.”
— • (@Aryan45_45) July 11, 2024
Ironically, Rohit Sharma was walking back to the pavilion with his classic 60-run contribution removed. Then things clicked for India, and from this stage, they mounted a good total of 205 for 5, which eventually turned out to be 24 runs too many for Australia. Not denying that the task ahead was going to be an uphill one, Starc told during the podcast that the job remained unfinished for Australia.
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“We thought the total was slightly above par, but it was the best batting wicket we encountered in the tournament,” he said. “Not the fastest wicket, but certainly the best for scoring runs. We were just up with Duckworth/Lewis for most of our innings, then a couple of hiccups and some good bowling by India put us behind.”
The five sixes that Rohit hit were defining moments of the game, coming off his bat like cannonballs, setting India on victory path and dramatically proving himself a man to be feared in the cricketing world.
