India savour glory with Kiwi crush
Rohit Sharma created a fairy tale of his own in the Arabian deserts of Dubai. You may even call it his redemption song. Reviled over a period of time for his lack of form and lack of team success recently, Rohit showcased his multiple facets to lead India to win the ICC Championship on Sunday night. There sure were bumps on the road to glory in an edge-of-the-seat thriller, but in the end India’s experience and better resources for the match conditions saw them scale the summit.
More than Rohit’s attacking batting when fours and sixes flowed from his bat in a run chase of 252 runs, it was his mastery over the strategic nuances of the game that shaped this triumph. Asked to field first on a tricky wicket where any chase around 300 runs would have been like negotiating the desert sands barefoot, Rohit’s brilliance in rotating and using his spin options to near perfection helped India cross the finish line first.
Rohit’s only mistake, not of his own doing, was to lose the toss and being pushed to bat second on a wicket that appeared smooth to look at but in reality was dry and abrasive. The New Zealanders, mindful of the slow nature of the track and how difficult it would be for them to break the spin stranglehold later on, started with a flurry, hammering the opening bowlers with impunity. Despite the left handed Rachin Ravindra benefiting from two dropped catches, the run flow seemed unstoppable. A frown was replacing the smile on skipper Rohit Sharma’s face. The perpetual sulk on coach Gautam Gambhir’s face was getting more pronounced. The Dubai sun appeared harsh on the Indians. Not for long.
The wily skipper that Rohit is, the game plan was changed. India’s talisman in the earlier matches, Varun Chakravarthy, was introduced into the attack in the first power play itself. The batsmen find the leggie’s arm mystical and his turn unreadable though most of the time he is bringing the ball in (googlies). The tide started to turn. William Young misread both the line and the turn and found his pad in front of the wicket.
The breakthrough achieved, Rohit turned to his second mystery man to affect a double strike. If Varun appears to flick missiles at the batsmen, the cherubic Kuldeep Yadav hangs the ball in the air as if the law of gravity does not apply to it. Ravindra was done in by a “chinaman” while Kane Williamson stretched and stretched yet couldn’t reach the ball. It flew back into Yadav’s stretched hands. The game had in a span of four overs turned upside down. From 57 for no loss, New Zealand were now 75 for 3 in 13 overs.
The crowd had found its voice back and Rohit his smile. The cushion of the flurry of runs in the first few overs were losing its advantage as New Zealand batsmen were struggling to adjust to the sluggishness and the turn of the rough surface. Not that they did not try. Mitchell and Phillips struck around but runs were on ration. With four spinners of different strength and qualities available on a difficult wicket to play fluent strokes, Rohit was now controlling the show like a ring master.
Had Bracewell not used all the muscle power of his big frame to take his team past 250, Rohit would have been more than smug in the belief that India had achieved its first mission of restricting Kiwis to a gettable score. The trophy had been sighted but it still had to be felt with the hands.
Rohit made sure India stayed ahead of the asking rate through a surge of aggressive strokes right in the beginning of the chase, showing his intention to dominate with a trademark second ball six of the very first over. Runs flowed from his bat, the score leaped up quickly and India seemed safe and secure. New Zealanders ploughed on and once spinners came on, the game started slipping from India’s hands.
A stunning catch at mid-on by the one and only Glenn Phillips to get rid of Shubman Gill and a first-ball dismissal of Virat Kohli put the skids on the Indian chase. The ball was gripping the wicket and runs dried up. Rohit too succumbed in a desperate attempt to push up the scoring rate. The match as a contest had come alive.
Indian batters kept their heads down but not for long enough to ensure an easy win. Shreyas Iyer lost his cool but not the unflappable K Rahul and India finally grabbed the trophy with an over to spare.
