Perhaps it was because it was his favourite piece of turf in the whole wide world or the presence of the man who knew how to boss around in pressure-cooker finals as team coach, or his ambition to win another title as a captain, Rohit Sharma, who usually likes to take a bit of time at the start, took off with a thrilling counter attack to seize the day for Mumbai Indians. The knock was a reminder to those who appreciate his languid style to also recognise how hard he hits the ball at times. He isn’t one of those genteel caressers of the ball, who rely solely on their timing but when he wants, he can crash his bat down really hard on that ball. Unusually, he desired to do that really early on this time around. Pressure of a big final and an early wicket due to the kind of fielding brilliance that imparts a heady rush of confidence to a team were couple of things staring at him when he decided to plunge into a counter attack. Mohit Sharma can’t be accused of being shy to bounce the batsmen and he has in fact taken a few wickets with that tactic but his third delivery, and the ninth of the innings, was merely short. And it was well outside off. Sharma rode the bounce and whip-lashed a ferocious upper cut that carried the ball over third man. The bat speed was quite something. Next ball, he unfurled a loose-limbed steer wide of the sole slip fielder before he absolutely smashed the next ball to the point boundary without ever losing that languidness. He brought his bat down at a startlingly furious pace that sometimes goes unnoticed in all the salivation over the inherent grace and elegance in his shots. He had made his intent clear in that over but it wasn’t clear yet whether he could carry on or to be more precise, whether he wished to carry on hitting. He did. In the next over against Chennai’s No 1. bowler Ashish Nehra, he pulled a slightly short delivery before blasting a fuller one through covers. That short blast of counterattack was what turned the tide towards Mumbai. A special knock If a IPL final had a greater stature and more gravitas, then it would have been tempting to make comparisons to Aravinda de Silva’s fabulous knock in a World Cup semi-final at this same ground, but suffice here to say that this was a special little knock. The mind-set of their captain, the audaciousness of his batting, the responsibility to take ownership of the innings by going against his own nature to start slowly was bound to be contagious and it definitely proved to be the case. Lendl Simmons started to flow, and later even when Sharma and Simmons fell in the space of two deliveries, Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard did the repair job before cranking up some violence of their own. But it was Sharma’s night. The mind goes to a press conference at the Wankhede stadium early on during the spree of losses. He plopped down on the plastic chair and had this wry smile on his face as he said: “So you guys (media) have ensured I am now batting down the order!” He has had to do juggle with a few roles in this tournament. At the insistence of the team management, he dropped himself from opening spot to No. 4 and later to No. 3. It has been a constant shuffle up and down the order, but he realised he had to make a few adjustments as a captain that he might not have were he just a player. Sharma had surprised many when he captained Mumbai to an IPL triumph couple of years ago. That this win and his ability to lead the team don’t come as a surprise anymore is his greatest achievement over the last two years.
