Sanjib Guha, OP
Bhubaneswar: When Shikhar Dhawan entered a rough patch and KL Rahul failed to make a lasting impression in the middle-order, India was left without an option. Rohit Sharma was then the lone opener India could bank upon.
Then came the gamble from the team management — promoting Rahul to the top of the order in the limited overs format. This indeed proved to be a smart one at that juncture.
Rahul justified the think-tank’s decision once again in Cuttack Sunday. In pursuit of 316, in reply to West Indies’ mammoth 315, India was put well on course for the series victory thanks to Rahul (77 off 89 balls) and Rohit (63 off 63), who stitched a 122-run stand for the first wicket.
However, it was skipper Virat Kohli (85), who along with Ravindra Jadeja (29*), took India home without much ado. The hosts won the match by four wickets to bag the series.
Trying his hand at the top of the order was bitter-sweet for the 28-year-old Karnataka batsman. In the three T20Is he opened for India against the visiting West Indies side, he had scores of 6, 91 and 62 which was although enough for him to get picked for men in blue in the ODIs too, that was to follow.
With Rohit in sublime touch across formats, Rahul had to do the ‘catching-up’ job in the ODIs in the absence Dhawan, who was ruled out owing to injury coupled with poor form.
Given the opportunity, Rahul has made a strong statement in the just concluded ODI series against the West Indies with scores of 6, 102 and 77.
Meanwhile, with Rahul making the team management’s task easier, Rohit Sunday broke Sri Lankan legend Sanath Jayasuriya’s 22-year-old record for most runs in a calendar year by an opener across three formats.
The Mumbai batsman, who is going through a purple patch, was only nine runs shy of the former Lankan opener when they stepped onto the lush green Barabati Stadium.
Jayasuriya, who totalled 2,387 runs in 1997, was relegated to the second spot when Rohit nudged one for a single off Sheldon Cottrell. He went on to score run-a-ball 63. Rohit now has 2,442 runs in this calendar year, a record that is expected to stay on for quite some time. The year was so good for the swashbuckler that he amassed 10 tons in this calendar year across all three formats averaging 53.08 in 47 innings. The Mumbaikar also has 10 fifties to his name this year.
The Mumbai Indian skipper is also at the numero uno spot in the ODIs this calendar year with 1,490 runs to his credit.
(With PTI inputs)