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It’s been exactly two months since India lost the World Cup final against Australia, but Rohit Sharma it seems, like many more, is yet to move on from the heart-breaking defeat endured on the night of November 19. As captain, Rohit has since led India to a famous Test win against South Africa in Cape Town and only two days ago, completed a 3-0 sweep against Afghanistan, but the pain of the World Cup final is yet to completely heal.
Before leaving for the tour of South Africa, Rohit had already addressed the ‘tough time’ he went through after the loss. But as Indian cricket moved on… or at least tried to, Rohit appeared to be overcoming it as well. But it was almost as if his wounds reopened when a question related to that evening in Ahmedabad was thrown at him. When asked what he did to get himself back in the right mindset, Rohit stuttered before explaining the importance of the 50-over World Cup and what winning it would have meant to him.
“See, I don’t want to think about it now. Absolutely (on the visible disappointment on his face). The 50-over World Cup for me is the biggest prize of them all. It’s not like I don’t consider the T20 World Cup or the World Test Championship important, but we’ve grown up watching the 50-over World Cup. And when it’s in India, it’s a big deal. We tried, but unfortunately couldn’t do it. The whole team was upset, fans were too. But now the opportunity that we have, we will try to get the most out of it and win the World Cup,” Rohit told the official broadcaster after the match.
Skipper’s love for reverse sweeps
The India skipper was excellent during his knock of 121 off 69 balls against Afghanistan – his 5th T20I century – but one very interesting aspect about his batting was the reverse sweeps and the switch hits he attempted. He tried everything – the reverse paddle, taps – and having connected them properly on the first three attempts, Rohit’s effort paid off when he swatted Sharafuddin Ashraf for a six and took a boundary off Qais Ahmad.
Rohit, not known to try things out of the ordinary, admitted that it’s a shot he has been working on for the last two years, realising the importance of thinking out of the box and staying ahead of the opposition.
“I have been practicing those shots a lot. If you have to put pressure on bowlers on pitches when it’s turning, and you can’t hit straight, you have to find ways. You have to try something different. The reverse sweep and the sweep shots I have been practicing over the last two years. I’ve executed them a couple of times in Tests too so yeah, you just need to have more options. When the ball was spinning, turning and gripping, I thought why not, let’s play some of it,” the Indian captain pointed out.
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