9:01 AM
Editor
Rohit Sharma found himself on familiar turf and in a familiar situation on Sunday. His team, Mumbai Indians, were in a spot of bother at 70 for four with a little more than 10 overs to go in the IPL 4 match against his former team, Deccan Chargers, at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium.
He had been in that position many times before for Deccan Chargers, who have often in the past snatched defeats from jaws of victory. In fact, they won only two games from 14 in the first edition despite two brilliant half centuries from Rohit against Daredevils (66) and Kings XI Punjab (76 no).
There was no doubting the talent of one of the most gifted gen next batsman - former DC skipper Adam Gilchrist would often sing praises of the righthanded middle order bat - a Telugu turned Mumbaikar, but Rohit has had his share of lows, not totally unexpected of a young player who is expected to turn everything he touches to gold.
But flush with success in the last outing against Chennai Super Kings at Wankhede, Rohit seized the moment with an unbeaten 56 (34b, 5x4, 3x6) and forged an unbroken fifth wicket stand of 102 runs with Andrew Symonds, both picked up by MI in the latest auction, as for the second time in two matches, Deccan Chargers bore the brunt of former players.
"Yes, we're disappointed not to have them (Rohit and Symonds), but there is only so much money you can spend. They are great players and we're disappointed they got some runs on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma is a class act, he has been for a long period of time. He certainly should be playing in the Indian side," said Chargers' coach Darren Lehmann.
Rohit didn't just score some runs, he took the game away from Chargers with Dale Steyn and Daniel Christian going for 40 runs in the last two overs; 70 came off last five. Rohit meted out special treatment to Christian (24 runs) and the last two overs nearly proved the margin of defeat. "It's my good fortune, I've done well here," said Rohit after the match. "I have a lot of fond memories and I love it here. Today was one of those days," he added.
Rohit also found it gratifying that the effort bore fruit. "Satisfaction is to do well in every game you go out to play. My role was to get the team to a good total today. Playing for Mumbai Indians , my job is to go out and perform and that's what I did."
Tendulkar's birthday made it worthwhile. "Yes, definitely. We were all excited for the game. It was important to win to keep that momentum going so we wanted that and we don't want to relax till we qualify for the semifinals. It was Sachin's birthday so it was special," he added.
Rohit and Symonds took turns to cream the Chargers' attack and MI couldn't have asked for more. "Me and Symmo have played three years for Deccan and in the last few matches we finished a game together so I think we understand each other's game very well. We both are natural stroke-makers, so wherever he gets going I need to be patient and whenever I play strokes he waits," he added.
And when that happens, the opposition is on the run.
He had been in that position many times before for Deccan Chargers, who have often in the past snatched defeats from jaws of victory. In fact, they won only two games from 14 in the first edition despite two brilliant half centuries from Rohit against Daredevils (66) and Kings XI Punjab (76 no).
There was no doubting the talent of one of the most gifted gen next batsman - former DC skipper Adam Gilchrist would often sing praises of the righthanded middle order bat - a Telugu turned Mumbaikar, but Rohit has had his share of lows, not totally unexpected of a young player who is expected to turn everything he touches to gold.
But flush with success in the last outing against Chennai Super Kings at Wankhede, Rohit seized the moment with an unbeaten 56 (34b, 5x4, 3x6) and forged an unbroken fifth wicket stand of 102 runs with Andrew Symonds, both picked up by MI in the latest auction, as for the second time in two matches, Deccan Chargers bore the brunt of former players.
"Yes, we're disappointed not to have them (Rohit and Symonds), but there is only so much money you can spend. They are great players and we're disappointed they got some runs on Sunday.
Rohit Sharma is a class act, he has been for a long period of time. He certainly should be playing in the Indian side," said Chargers' coach Darren Lehmann.
Rohit didn't just score some runs, he took the game away from Chargers with Dale Steyn and Daniel Christian going for 40 runs in the last two overs; 70 came off last five. Rohit meted out special treatment to Christian (24 runs) and the last two overs nearly proved the margin of defeat. "It's my good fortune, I've done well here," said Rohit after the match. "I have a lot of fond memories and I love it here. Today was one of those days," he added.
Rohit also found it gratifying that the effort bore fruit. "Satisfaction is to do well in every game you go out to play. My role was to get the team to a good total today. Playing for Mumbai Indians , my job is to go out and perform and that's what I did."
Tendulkar's birthday made it worthwhile. "Yes, definitely. We were all excited for the game. It was important to win to keep that momentum going so we wanted that and we don't want to relax till we qualify for the semifinals. It was Sachin's birthday so it was special," he added.
Rohit and Symonds took turns to cream the Chargers' attack and MI couldn't have asked for more. "Me and Symmo have played three years for Deccan and in the last few matches we finished a game together so I think we understand each other's game very well. We both are natural stroke-makers, so wherever he gets going I need to be patient and whenever I play strokes he waits," he added.
And when that happens, the opposition is on the run.
0 comments:
Post a Comment