Fifties and hundreds don’t matter to Rohit Sharma, he just wants to bat with tempo

Gros Islet (St Lucia), June 25

He fell short of a potentially record-shattering hundred, but milestones “don’t matter” to India skipper Rohit Sharma, whose sole aim while batting is to “put bowlers under pressure” by hitting them all around the field.

Rohit’s 92-run knock that came off 41 deliveries steered India to a 24-run win over former champions Australia in their final Super 8 outing of the ongoing T20 World Cup on Monday. The record for the fastest T20 World Cup hundred belongs to the West Indian swashbuckler Chris Gayle, who pulled it off in 47 deliveries in the 2016 edition.

Expectedly adjudged the Player of the Match for the memorable effort, which was punctuated by eight sixes and seven fours, the 37-year-old said his focus was only on maintaining the “tempo” of the match.

“It was a good wicket, and you want to try and back yourself to play those kinds of shots. I’ve been trying to do that for a few years now, and I’m glad it came off today. The fifties and hundreds don’t matter, I wanted to bat with the same tempo and carry on. You want to make big scores, yes, but at the same time you want to make the bowlers think where the next shot is coming, and I think I managed to do that today,” he added. “You need to put the bowlers under pressure, and you need big scores for that. I tried to access all sides of the field, not just one side.”

Winning was not a ‘breeze’ for India and Rohit said he had to tweak his batting style to take the wind out of the 2021 champions’ sails.

Rohit played some delectable strokes on the off-side after his opening partner Virat Kohli departed for a duck. With wind a perpetual hindrance, Rohit had to play more strokes on the off-side to negate the impact. “I thought right from over No. 1, there was a strong breeze blowing across. They (Australia) changed their plan, bowling against the breeze, so I realised I had to open up the off-side as well,” he said.

Bumrah is Arshdeep’s guide

The pinpoint accuracy of Jasprit Bumrah allows other bowlers in the Indian team to go for wickets even in extreme pressure situations, said left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh.

The 25-year-old is among the leading wicket-takers in the T20 World Cup with 15 scalps in six games at an average of 11.86 and economy rate of 7.41 runs per over.

Bumrah, on the other hand, has taken 11 wickets in the same number of games, conceding just 4.08 runs per over, a rarity in the shortest format.

“I guess a lot of credit goes to Jasprit because he puts a lot of pressure on the batters. He gives what, three or four runs in an over,” Arshdeep said.

“So, batsmen are coming hard against me and when they are trying, I just have to try and bowl my best ball and there are a lot of chances of getting wickets there because on the other hand they see the runs are not coming and the asking rate is going high. They take more risk against me and there’s a chance always of getting a wicket there. So there’s a lot of credit of my wickets that goes to Jasprit,” he said.