In a truncated eight-overs-a-side match between India and Australia at VCA Stadium, Nagpur, captain Rohit Sharma enthralled a capacity crowd by smashing four fours and as many sixes in his unbeaten 20-ball 46 with a strike rate of 230, guiding the hosts to a series-leveling six-wicket win.
Friday’s match saw Rohit bring out his trademark pulls and hooks, played with great ferocity, and also surpassed New Zealand opener, Martin Guptill, to become the leading six-hitting cricketer in men’s T20Is.
Legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar was thoroughly impressed by Rohit’s blazing knock and leading the charge with the bat in the chase of 91, pointing out that the right-hander played with a measured approach and was selective in his shot selection.
“What you saw with Rohit today (Friday’s match) was a measured approach. It wasn’t anything where he was looking to defend, but he was being a lot more selective. And look, when he is playing those flick shots or the swivel pull shots, he is very good at that,” said Gavaskar on Star Sports after the match.
At the same time, Gavaskar was quick to mention what Rohit needs to be careful about to avoid getting out quickly. “Where he gets into trouble is where he is looking to play on the off-side, just tonks it up like that, that’s where he hits the ball up in the air rather than into the stands. That’s the only thing that he is going to watch out for.”
“Otherwise, when he is hitting it in his range, he has got absolutely no problems at all. That’s what he should be looking to do. Today (On Friday, it) was such a measured inning. He was waiting, cutting the ball, pulling, he was not going bang straight away. That is the reason why he batted so brilliantly.”
With Friday’s match won by India, the three-match series is now leveled at 1-1 with the series decider to be played in Hyderabad on Sunday.
