Rohit Sharma's tryst with the gentleman's game is only going to become stronger
Rohit Sharma is certainly in the form of his life. His elegant yet authoritative stroke-play has enthralled the cricketing fraternity and terrified the opposition to a great extent. Be it five centuries in a single World Cup or leading Mumbai Indians to their fourth Indian Premier League or the memorable debut Test series, Rohit Sharma's achievements this year are unmatched and unparalleled.
His fairy-tale run with the willow started this January by earning the all-important ticket to the Test series in Australia because of his sound back foot play. He made an impressive 63* in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne. That innings helped India register its first-ever Test series victory in Australia. The innings reminded everyone that Rohit is itching to earn himself a place in the Indian Test team.
Soon after clinching the maiden Test series victory Down Under, Rohit had to play an important role in the five-match One Day International series against the Kiwis. The fourth ODI of the five-match series at Hamilton marked a special occasion for Rohit Sharma as he became the 79th player to achieve the milestone of reaching 200 ODIs.
At that time, only AB de Villiers (8520), Virat Kohli (8767) and, Hashim Amla (7896) had scored more than Rohit Sharma (7799) after 199 ODIs. Several cricketing gurus had predicted that Rohit is well on course to become one of the world’s best batsman in the ODI format.
Rohit soon continued his rich vein of form by scoring two half-centuries in the ODI series against Australia at home. Though India lost the series 3-2, Rohit Sharma went on to become the joint third-fastest batsman alongside Saurav Ganguly to score 8000 ODI runs behind Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers. While Virat Kohli achieved it in just 175 innings, Rohit took 200 innings to reach the landmark. However, it is a stupendous achievement because Rohit played his first 70 ODIs as a middle-order batsman.
Just before the World Cup, Rohit Sharma brilliantly led the Mumbai Indians by winning their fourth Indian Premier League title. The finals between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings was a pulsating one where Mumbai held their nerve and won the game by a solitary run.
The ICC World Cup was certainly the crown jewel of this year’s cricket calendar. Rohit Sharma’s swashbuckling 140 against Pakistan helped India register a comfortable victory and maintain its hundred percent win record against the arch-rivals in World Cups. Rohit Sharma also went on to become the highest scorer against Pakistan in the World cup.
Though India suffered a shocking semi-finals exit against New Zealand, Rohit Sharma had a memorable World Cup by scoring five centuries (Only batsman to do so) in a single edition of a World Cup. He also went on to become the leading run-scorer of the tournament by aggregating a staggering 648 runs.
While the first half of the year was all about Rohit’s magic in the 50 overs format, he soon entered the record books in the T20 format as well. He surpassed Chris Gayle’s 105 sixes to become the leading six-hitter in International T20s. (currently 114)
Success soon continued to beckon Rohit as he became the leading run-scorer in International T20s (currently 2539 runs) overtaking Virat Kohli’s tally of 2450 runs.
Finally, Rohit's opportunity truly arrived when he opened the batting in the Test series against South Africa. His debut series as an opener was one to reminisce for ages as he notched twin hundreds in the first Test at Vishakhapatnam. He even bettered his performance by scoring a career-best 212. He aggregated 529 runs in the series and entered the top 10 in ICC Rankings of Test Batsman.
Finally, Rohit also proved his mettle by brilliantly leading the young Indian team in the T20 series against Bangladesh (India won 2-1). He backed his youngsters and showed great composure as a leader.
So, 2019 is definitely a year that belongs to the 'Hitman'. The runs that he scored across all the formats and the astute leadership qualities clearly portrays that Rohit's tryst with the 'gentleman's game' is only going to become stronger and stronger.