It seemed inevitable that Saturday could well be the day that ‘Ro-Ko’ came to the party. As Sydney turned up in numbers for a dead-rubber, the ambience seemed set for Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to shine. Throughout the first half of the match, when India’s bowlers restricted Australia to 236, they were seen time and again walking up to the crease and indulging in a bit of shadow batting and visualisation. As twilight gave way to night skies in Sydney, the two two decorated ODI batsmen showed there is still fuel left in their tanks and won’t be pushovers in this format. Rohit remained unbeaten on 121 off 125 while Kohli (74 off 81) struck the winning runs as India reached their target of 237 with 9 wickets and 69 balls to spare.
It was a night where they didn’t necessarily roll back the clock – for the two have been in better form as far as ODIs go. But they needed to provide some reminder to the doubters that they still have it. And they did. Having grown up in an era where the 50-over format enjoyed the place of prominence, it is where they are totally at ease, where muscle memory takes over once they get their eye in. With the target being below par at SCG, they didn’t look to do anything extraordinary. They batted with such an assurance that the result felt like a foregone conclusion. They didn’t spend too much time talking in the middle. There would be the occasional thumbs up here or a shout of ‘watch out’ there or just gestures from the other end signalling which way the ball is moving. They did have some moments that would make it to the Reels – Kohli patting Rohit on his back when the latter was tying the shoelaces. The hug and the fist pump from Kohli when Rohit got to this 33rd ODI century. Of course, there are young, talented batsmen waiting in the wings, but to dislodge these two when they are batting as well as they have been in the format isn’t going to be easy. They refuse to be shaken by all the outside noise that every innings is an ultimatum.
Between the two it was Rohit who first shone bright. The light blue India jersey of his turning into sweat soaked darker shade said everything about his innings where he got to his century off 105 deliveries. It was not an innings from Rohit 2.0 – where he employs a high-risk approach at the start by putting the team’s needs ahead and abandons his ability to construct a big innings. Instead, this was a century that completely fit into Rohit 1.0 – where after being promoted to open in 2013, he would be watchful at the start, consolidate in the middle before exploding towards the end. It is what made Rohit stack up three double centuries in the format.
In Adelaide, where he scored 73, he showed signs of that old self and in Sydney, it was a continuation of it. Perhaps, with the next World Cup in Africa, where conditions will be seamer-friendly in the early part of the season, has already got him thinking about having a steady approach at the start instead of a blazing one. But whatever it is, in Rohit they have an opener who is capable of providing both. Having shown versatility by embracing an aggressive approach over the last three years, Rohit effortlessly married the two. In the first five overs with the ball still darting a bit, he hit four boundaries and at the end of first powerplay when India had 68, he had 31 off 35. After Shubman Gill perished the second ball into the second powerplay and with Kohli coming in, he would slowly take the foot off the pedal. From 41 off 46, he would bring up his fifty off 63 deliveries. And at 65 off 79, having consolidated, he would explode and bring his muscle power to play, getting to the hundred of 105 deliveries.
If Rohit’s knock was a throwback to his old approach, Kohli entered his signature auto-pilot mode in chases. When in this chasing zone, he can make it look all too boring. You know what is around the corner. With spread out fields, just get the job done in singles and twos, then pick the odd boundaries to stay ahead of the asking rate. This is how Kohli has killed far steeper chases, even in excess of 300. Here, walking in at 69/1 in 10.2 overs, he just had to jog. Having been dismissed for successive zeros for the first time in his ODI career, he started the innings with a single off the first ball and punched his fists with a wry smile. With Rohit being solid, Kohli seemed all intent from the word go, going run-a-ball before getting down to dictating the pace of the innings. When Kohli gets down to controlling the tempo, it usually spells doom for the opposition.
At the start, there was a bit of tentativeness, in particular against leg-spinner Adam Zampa. But he wasn’t ruffled once he got his eye in and started to play closer to the body. With the pitch not having as much bounce as Perth or Adelaide, he crouched a bit low in his stance – something Rohit too did after the ball became soft. Like they used to do in their heyday, they did it in singles and twos for the most part, while each four and six underlined their dominance during their 19th century partnership (the third highest ever).
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