“They changed the plan, then I realised…”: How Rohit Sharma outplayed Australia in Super 8s

Winning was not a ‘breeze’ for India in their final T20 World Cup Super Eight match against Australia as captain Rohit Sharma said he had to adjust his batting to take the wind out of the 2021 champions’ sails. Rohit played some delightful shots off offside as the ‘Player of the Match’ made a match-winning 92 off just 41 deliveries, just as his opening partner Virat Kohli departed for a duck. Courtesy of Rohit’s seven boundaries and eight sixes, India scored 205/5 and then restricted Mitchell Marsh’s side to 181/7 for a 24-run victory and progressed to the semi-final of the deciding event.

With the wind being a perpetual obstacle, Rohit said he had to play more shots on the off side to nullify the impact.

“I thought from the beginning that there was a strong breeze blowing. They (Australia) changed their plan, bowling into the breeze, so I realized I needed to open up the opposite side as well.

“You need to take into account the breeze and understand that the bowlers are also smart and open up all sides of the field. When you keep an open mind and don’t just think about one shot, you can access all areas of the field,” the India captain said after the match.

“200 is obviously a good score but when you play on grounds like this where wind is a factor anything is possible but I thought we used the conditions really well. It was really enjoyable to see how we were getting through those overs and getting the wickets at the same time.” Rohit also said he knew that spinner Kuldeep Yadav would be in top form in the West Indies after finding seamer-friendly conditions in the US.

Kuldeep returned excellent figures of 2/24 in his four overs.

“Kuldeep, we understand the strengths he has, but you have to use them when you need them. The pitches in New York were friendly, but we knew he would play a big role later.” Rohit categorically said that he was just focusing on maintaining the “pace” of the match and not worrying at all about his century.

“It was a good wicket, and you want to try and support yourself to play that kind of shot. I’ve been trying to do this for a few years and I’m glad I managed it today. It didn’t matter, I wanted to hit the same beat and move forward.

“You want to score big, yes, but at the same time you want to make players think about where the next shot is going to come from, and I think I was able to do that today,” he added.

The captain added that he would like India to continue playing in the qualifiers the same way they have been playing so far.

“We don’t want to do anything different (in the qualifiers). We want to play the same way, understand what individuals need to do in a given situation and play with freedom.

“So far we have done that consistently, and in the semi-finals, we have to try to do the same thing. It will be good (to face England in the semi-final). Nothing changes for us, we want to focus on what we can do as a team and take on the game.” Australian captain Mitchell Marsh, who was guilty of attacking a sitter and failed to capitalize on his good start with the bat, admitted that India were better that day.

“It’s disappointing. Technically, there’s still a chance of getting through, and today India got the better of us. I think over 40 overs there are a lot of small margins, but honestly, India were the better team.

“We’ve seen for 15 years what Rohit Sharma can do in this kind of humor, and he’s totally flown it. In a chase like that, you’re in it if you can keep it to dozens (10 runs plus) for as long as possible, but India were too good for us.”

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