Rohit makes hitting sixes look like child's play: Hardik

AHMEDABAD, October 15

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Umpire Marais Erasmus was not the only one marvelling at Rohit Sharma’s six-hitting prowess during India’s comprehensive victory in Saturday’s World Cup blockbuster against Pakistan.

Watching him dismantle the Pakistan attack at the Narendra Modi Stadium, teammate Hardik Pandya, a formidable hitter himself, said it felt more “like PlayStation” than cricket with Rohit on the rampage.

Pakistan could not manage a single six but Rohit alone clobbered half a dozen as India, turbo-charged by the skipper’s 86 off 63 balls, completed a modest chase with nearly 20 overs to spare.

After hitting one of those monster sixes, the opener was seen flexing his muscle in front of a grinning Erasmus, an action he later explained to Pandya in a video released by the team.

“He was asking me the secret behind my big sixes, and if it had anything to do with the bat I use,” Rohit told Pandya. “I was just telling him it was not my bat, but my power.”

The elegant right-hander overtook West Indian Chris Gayle’s record of 553 sixes in international cricket heading into the match against Pakistan. After Saturday’s match, Rohit also became only the third batter — after Gayle and Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi — to smash 300 sixes in ODIs.

“I have been trying to bat like this in the last two years,” Rohit said of his batting approach in the World Cup. “Wickets are so good these days, I want to play my shots. I know I missed out on a hundred.”

Rohit has three double hundreds in ODIs, the only batter to have more than one, and his 264 against Sri Lanka in 2014 remains the highest individual score in this format.

His 11 sixes from three matches in the ongoing World Cup is second only to Sri Lankan Kusal Mendis’ 14 from two matches.

Past experience

Star pacer Jasprit Bumrah said he used his vast experience of playing at the venue since his junior days to get the best out of the flat wicket here. Bumrah took two wickets and gave away just 19 runs in seven overs as India bowled out Pakistan for 191.

“I have played a lot of junior cricket on this ground. Since it was a flat wicket, I tried to implement that experience of mine here,” Bumrah, who was adjudged as the Player of the Match, told Pandya in the video.

“Before getting hit for four boundaries, it’s vital to realise about the wicket right after one boundary. That’s what I was trying to communicate,” he added.

Sweeping risk

Spinner Kuldeep Yadav said that he was able to create confusion in the minds of Pakistan’s batters. Yadav took the important wickets of Saud Shakeel and Iftikhar Ahmed in one over after both went for the sweep shot. “They weren’t able to read me from the hand and were in two minds whether to sweep or play normally,” Yadav said. — Agencies