Rohit Sharma's rapid knock drove India to a six-wicket victory over Australia in shortened second T20I in Nagpur. The India skipper hit an unbeaten 46 off just 20 balls, taking his team past the finish line while chasing 91, with the game being reduced to eight overs a side due to wet outfield on Friday. Known for his elegant strokeplay, Rohit was aggressive from the word go as he hit three monstrous hits off Josh Hazlewood in the opening over. He then smashed a Pat Cummins slower ball into the stands and hit Adam Zampa over long-off to add another six under his belt.
While India lost KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit continued scoring runs at a brisk pace before Dinesh Karthik finished the chase with 10 not out in two balls. Rohit, who was in ominous touch, struck four fours and as many sixes as India levelled the series with one match left in Hyderabad.
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Legendary Sunil Gavaskar dissected Rohit's quick-fire 46 and pointed out how he stuck to his strengths for a 'measured' batting approach, where he was selective with his shots instead of trying anything different.
"What you saw with Rohit today 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. 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," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
{{/usCountry}}"What you saw with Rohit today 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. 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," Gavaskar said on Star Sports.
{{/usCountry}}"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 was such a measured innings. He was waiting, cutting the ball, pulling, he was not going bang straight away. That is the reason why he batted so brilliantly," he explained.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, Rohit said that he was surprised by his own batting. "I didn't expect it to go quite as well as that," Rohit said after collecting the Player of the Match award.
"Glad (Karthik) could finish well. It's been a while since he had some time in the middle," he added of the veteran middle-order batsman," he added.
The game was affected by overnight rain, which left the outfield waterlogged. The start of T20I was postponed by over two hours after several pitch inspections. India elected to bowl first and reduced Australia to 31-3 in 3.1 overs after Cameron Green was run out and Glenn Maxwell for a golden duck. All-rounder Axar Patel then bowled Tim David in his next over to return 2/13 in his two overs, while fit-again Jasprit Bumrah clean bowled Aaron Finch with a searing yorker.
"Rohit was brilliant, and the two overs Axar bowled was probably the difference in the game," Australia captain Finch said. "Wade is such a calm customer at the back of the innings. He did a wonderful job. We came close."