As Uthappa, provided a regulation to Graeme Smith, while trying to loft Morkel down the ground, Millions hearts skipped a beat in synchronization and why not? The batsman who rescued the ship against arch rivals Pakistan was now made a goner. But the night was perhaps not meant to be his.
61–4 in 10.3 overs, against the Mighty South African’s on their own turf.
But the question is how did we reach there?
It all started in the 5th over of India’s innings, as Gambhir lost his patience against a disciplined Pollock & played a shot which would’ve continued to haunt him forever, if not for the eventual results.
A ball later, debutant Dinesh Karthik flicked one straight into the hands of Albie Morkel and walked away without troubling the scoreboard. Tell you what, in the very first ball of the next over the dangerous Virender Sehwag nicked one off Ntini, behind the wicket & Boucher grabbed onto an absolute screamer.
3 wickets, in a space of 4 balls. With two of the most dependable batsman back in the hut.
Uthappa played a few elegant strokes but in a matter of a few deliveries, he was gone too.
With the South African Pace battery wrecking havoc with their intimidating bowling, and almost the last recognized pair of India batting, well, more often than not, wars would have been surrendered against the odds with little resistance, but a certain 20 year old stood there, trying to tackle everything that came in his way.
That Guy was Rohit Sharma.
A certain youngster playing his first game, who had become the talk of the town, as pundits called him the next big thing in Indian cricket, seeing his prowess in U-19 and domestics.
But there’s a hard fact about Cricket, or any competitive sport for a matter of fact. Each day is a separate one, each game brings forth it’s own unique set of challenges. And when you come across such uphill tasks—Your Past records, your reputation, none of them matter even a bit, all that matters is how you manage to stand still against the storm, absorbing all the mighty blows that come in your way.
And if you fail, all those Pundits who applauded you, would the be the first ones to come after you, with all guns blazing, questioning your worth.
Rohit took his time, got beaten by a few good ones, but didn’t rush.
It was as if he was in deep meditative mode, allowing himself to soak in all the pressure. But it was all a matter of time, before he broke his silence smoking Van der Wath for two back to back boundaries in the 10th over.
The Youngster was underway and the Durban’s canvas was ready to painted by Rohit’s eye pleasing display of stroke making for the next hour or so.
His stroke making was impeccable, there was a sort of lazy elegance in it. Whenever the Proteas gave him even a bit of room and he would pounce onto it.
Once he got set, even the good deliveries weren’t spared. Not many youngsters, are talented enough to dispatch, two similar type of deliveries in different parts of the ground, Rohit did so, in the last two balls of the 14th over, that too against Ntini—one of the best in the business.
It didn’t seem, even for a moment that this young lad was playing his 1st international game, his cricketing sense & pressure soaking ability made it seem, as if he were an experienced campaigner. With Skipper Dhoni(45 off 33), he stitched a partnership of 85 runs & took India to a respectable total, A total which would give their bowlers, the confidence to fight on.
And Guess how he concluded the innings?
With a typical Hitman-sque pull, which the fans would witness more often than not for the rest of his career.
His 50 was up, and as he walked out after the conclusion of the Indian innings, he was applauded and cheered by thousands of Indians, at the Durban, who danced in ecstasy.
Ravi Shastri who was in the Commentary Panel went on to say’
'India might have found a new player in the making’
And years hence, it seems how spot-on was he, Perhaps Rohit’s innings under pressure gave Shastri the sign of What-was-to-be.
