In ODIs it seems that the batting start from the score of 100 for the Indian opener Rohit Sharma. Before that, he plays in the snooze mode as the rush begins only halfway down the innings. Despite the fact that most the batsman around the world tends to increase their strike rate after reaching their three-figure mark, Rohit not only increases his strike he starts toying with the bowlers. It’s almost like he unleashes himself into a whole new avatar of his batting.
Talking about his brilliant knock in the Mumbai ODI, the Windies skipper, Jason Holder said, “It’s tough (bowling to Rohit)… He is a really good player. Once he gets in there, he goes really big. We just have to hang in there, probably bowl outside off stump and trying to get his wicket. There’s no point in sticking to line and lengths for the first 10 overs and trying to contain. You know how dangerous he can be once he gets in the flow, so you have got to get him out.”
Holder was well-aware of the dangers that lay ahead and planned to protect his team from that. Rohit somehow evaded and batted till the 44th over. Everything else is self-explanatory. Since Sharm has started opening the batting, he has batted at a strike rate of 177 after reaching his century and that is one of the reasons that he has converted seven of those to over 150 – most by any batsmen in the history of one-day cricket, and thrice over 200. Every time he surpasses 100-run mark, fans started thinking of a double century and on Monday, not just the fans, even Ambati Rayudu in the middle was aware of a possible fourth double ton.
WATCH – Rohit Sharma enjoyed the gully cricket before the fourth ODI
Describing the same, Rohit said, “Rayudu was telling me from the other side that I can get a double hundred. But I was just trying to focus on my batting and not to think about how I’m going to get to double hundred. The three double hundreds that I’ve got, I had never thought about getting them. I’ve grown up playing cricket in Mumbai and more so in CCI. I do understand the pace and bounce here. I tried to hold my shape as long as possible into the innings. We knew the runs will come once you are set.”
Talking about his knock further after the game, he said, “When you come to a ground where you have played enough cricket, you feel confident about going into a match. That was my mindset before walking out to bat. I understand the nature of the pitch and what it does when the spinners are bowling, what helps the spinners when the bowl turns. Those things are important.”
Despite the fact that Brabourne is known to be a high-scoring ground, no other Mumbai player, apart from Sachin Tendulkar in 1996, had scored an ODI century at the CCI, and no other batsmen in the world had scored a century at the stadium. Rohit’s quintessential big knock stood to break some long-standing records.
WATCH – Two Brilliant Catches From Rohit Sharma Helped Kuldeep Yadav
Apart from his batting, Sharma took three catches in the slips, two off the bowling of Kuldeep Yadav and other off Khaleel Ahmed. Even in the series so far, he has taken some incredible catches at slips.
When asked about his catching during the post-match presentation when he was adjudged as man of the match, Rohit replied, “Been doing slip catching for a while. I can hear Virat laugh, but I’ve been catching in the slips for a while now. Important to hold on to them. Catches come to you all the time, but when you’re fielding in the slips for Kuldeep, it’s not easy off his hand, but I learned to be ready for his googly. This kind of performance was a long time coming, but very happy to see such a dominating performance. Pacers were swinging the ball, spinners were turning it.”
