I badly needed that knock, says a relieved Rohit Sharma

When was the last time you saw a top-order batsman pumping his fists upon reaching, well, a half-century? For once, you couldn’t blame Rohit Gurunath Sharma for that unusual celebration. After all, he badly needed a meaningful score.

Ever since he made his international debut in June 2007, Sharma has been branded as a player who’s never done justice to his talent. If anything, the Mumbaikar’s 83-ball 68 against Pakistan on Sunday would keep the critics quiet for a while. Sharma walked in after the dismissal of the most famous cricketer his city has produced and he fought fire with fire.

Sachin Tendulkar had become Saeed Ajmal’s first victim of the evening and India were reduced to 133 for two in the 20th over. Sharma walked in with the knowledge that he couldn’t afford another failure. He had squandered not one or two, but five chances, in the CB Series Down Under before getting run out for 2 in the second match of the Asia Cup, against Bangladesh.

Another poor score and he could be doing what poor Manoj Tiwary is — warming the bench!

But to his and the team’s benefit, Sharma showed what he was made of. The elegant right-hander was up against Ajmal and the off-spinner troubled him with his variations early on. Sharma needed six deliveries to get off the mark and a boundary off Shahid Afridi helped him break the shackles to some extent.

Perhaps, Virat Kohli’s confidence also rubbed off on him. The standout moment of his knock was a well-timed pull off Aizaz Cheema. The ball found the meet of his blade and sailed over the deep square leg fence. Sharma was eventually done in by Umar Gul, the pacer inducing a top edge which was caught by Shahid Afridi at mid-wicket. India were just 25 runs away from victory then.
“I badly needed that knock,” a relieved Sharma said on Monday.

“Batting with Virat really helped and we decided to just take it one over at a time. The team won and that’s more important,” he added. When informed that Kohli had praised his batting, Sharma said, “He’s just being nice. You saw the kind of knock he played.”
So how tough was it to face Ajmal? “Ajmal has improved a lot. I think I last played him in the 2009 World Twenty20 in England. Or was it at the last Asia Cup (2010). I can’t remember. He’s a different bowler now. It was tough to read him, but I found a way as the innings progressed,” said Sharma, who managed just 10 runs off 18 Ajmal deliveries. He fared well against the others, though.

Tendulkar was effusive in his praise of Sharma. “Rohit is a player who used to bat well in patches, but now he has understood his responsibilities and I am happy for him. It was a terrific knock. Both he and the team needed it,” Tendulkar told DNA. So is he ready for his Test debut? “I don’t want to get into that,” the maestro said with a smile. He was on his way to meet the Bangladesh prime minister, Sheikh Hasina.