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Journalism of Courage
It was not the best day to be running around even otherwise. Certainly not one to be undergoing a fitness-test after having been out of action for more than 10 days with a sore hamstring. The temperatures touched 36 degrees, even if the locals insisted on this being a pleasant day by all comparisons.
But a day after there was speculation over Rohit Sharma’s future in the ongoing tri-series, the Indian opener turned up for a strenuous work-out at the WACA. Following a session that lasted 28 minutes, he seemed to be holding up better than expected. And there were enough signs that he might end up playing this week at some point. Rohit had started the tournament with a bang, scoring a fluent 138 against the Australians at the MCG, before missing the second and third games after injuring his right hamstring.
Put through the grind
Here he was though, in the company of Indian team physio Nitin Patel, being put through the grind under the sweltering sun. The session started with Rohit being made to stretch his hamstrings and the rest of his legs. Once Patel was confident of his ward not being in any disconcerting discomfort-Rohit didn’t feel for the region at the back of his thigh even once-he got him to run 100m laps on the WACA field, marking the distance with plastic cones.
By the third lap, Rohit was feeling the heat, even if his hamstring didn’t seem to be acting up, and he asked Patel to get him some water. The injured opener used that time to go take a look at the WACA pitch on which India will face England on Friday in a must-win encounter. He even shadow-practiced for a couple of minutes in the middle before returning for the second part of his test.
This time, Patel made him run the 100m in zig-zag motions trying to gauge whether Rohit was able to make sudden jerky motions with his foot at regularised intervals. He did three laps of this routine. The last part of the fitness-test was getting Rohit to do quick sprints between shorter distances. This lasted around 10 minutes before Patel collected the cones and brought it to an end. A weary Rohit left the WACA, drenched in sweat thanks to the merciless Perth heat.
As it turns out, India have been sweating over his fitness over the last week or so, especially with this being their lead-up to the World Cup. The world champions opened with Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane at the Gabba and at the SCG. The poor form of Dhawan, Rohit’s long-standing ODI opening partner and the inability of Ambati Rayudu to make the most of his chances in the middle-order have only made his absence feel incessantly conspicuous. For the record Dhawan has averaged 3.66 in three innings while Rayudu has made a pair of 23s. And India will need Rohit back if they have to make a serious claim for the World Cup again.
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