Rohit shuns milestones as India amp-up intent in T20 World Cup: 50s, 100s don’t matter

sanjeev

khelja|23-06-2024

India finally cracked the batting code in the T20 World Cup in their Super 8 innings against Bangladesh on Friday 22 June. India smashed 196 - the highest-ever total at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.
The innings had only one half-centurian - Hardik Pandya, who attained his milestone in the final ball of the innings. There were no anchors in the Indian innings, among the top three batters, something that has not been seen in the last two World Cups at all. India captain Rohit Sharma, senior batter Virat Kohli and then Rishabh Pant at No. 3 just tried to maximise their scoring options, hitting the Bangladesh bowlers out of the ground in their Super 8 game. The dismissals were similar too - Rohit and Kohli got out trying to hit a six. Rishabh handed a catch trying to reverse sweep the ball. While many on social media criticised the Indian batters for not playing with caution, Rohit Sharma remained unmoved. T20 World Cup 2024, Super 8: IND vs BAN Highlights | Full Scorecard Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, Rohit hailed the Indian batters for their intent and the ability to shun the idea of a milestone. Sharma, who had first spoken about the need for renewed intent before the T20 World Cup 2022, walked the talk with 23 off 11 balls, as the rest of the batters followed. Not a single Indian top-5 batter had a strike rate less than 130, on a slightly sticky pitch in Antigua. "I have been talking about this for a long time now. It's about going there and putting that to work. Considering everything we played really well, and adapted to the conditions. There's a little bit of wind factor here, overall we are very smart, overall we were good with bat and ball," Sharma told the broadcaster after the match. DON'T NEED 50s AND 100s The Indian captain categorically shunned the need to play a milestone innings. Why wouldn't he? India bat till 8 in this T20 World Cup. Rather than playing a long innings of 60-ball hundred, it is possibly better to utilise the skill sets of world-class batters who can hold their own against any opposition in the world. "All eight batters need to play their role, whatever it is. We saw one guy get 50 and we got 196, in T20 I don't believe we need to get fifties and hundreds, what matters is the pressure you put on the bowlers. All the batters from the word go played like that and that's how we want to play as well," Rohit said. Rohit found support from two of the brightest brains in Indian cricket - R Ashwin and Wasim Jaffer. Both took to Twitter to express their joy in watching the Indian team bat, hailing the freshness of the approach. "We are not used to an approach where batsmen throw it away after making 30's 20's, but it is about time we embrace an approach like this especially while batting first. Top Intent from all the Indian batters so far," R Ashwin said on Twitter.  
  "Refreshing to see the intent from the Indian batters today. Every batter in top 6 hit at least a six and ensured there was no drop in run rate even after wkts fell. Top inns and finish from Hardik Pandya," reckoned Wasim Jaffer.  
  This is possibly the biggest development in India batting unit since Rohit Sharma's takeover of captaincy. Keep in mind that the Indian team tried to go against their grain in Asia Cup 2022 and T20 World Cup 2022 as well, but it did not come off. We will never know for sure whether it was because of the team not buying into the philosophy or the Indian batters simply did not have the ability at the time. But that now has changed. India have made braver selections by bringing Yashasvi Jaiswal instead of Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson instead KL Rahul. Rohit and Rahul Dravid have managed to hammer the 'aggressive approach' into the team's DNA, which has finally come off against the poor Bangladesh, who were just blown out of the water on Friday. HOW INDIA BATTED vs BANGLADESH Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli came out with aggressive intent after Bangladesh sent India to bat first in what looked like a great wicket. India continued their aggressive approach after the dismissal of their captain. Both Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant kept their foot on the pedal as India continued to tick away with runs despite the regular fall of wickets. Virat Kohli got out trying to hit a slower ball for six. Rishabh Pant was caught trying to reverse sweep spinner Rishad Hossain, but India were never below the 8 RPO mark in their batting innings. After the dismissal of those two batters, Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube were quiet for a bit and once agian attacked in the final five overs after soaking in the pressure. Dube had not done well for the majority of the innings, but hit 3 sixes in the last few balls of his innings to balloon up his score to 34 off 24 balls. The real hero however was Hardik Pandya, who played an intelligent innings of 50* off 27 balls. Pandya hit the ball with the wind and chose his options well to take India well over par score at the venue. THE THIRST FOR WORLD CUP It is no secret that India were hurt after their ODI World Cup 2023 loss against Australia. Rohit himself has come out and said that it felt like a bad dream, the 19th of November. However, the defeat did not put Rohit six feet under the ground, it only made him stronger. The Indian team looks like they are on a mission, every time they take the field in the T20 World Cup. And this new approach with the bat might be key to ending India's ICC title drought in the T20 World Cup 2024.
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