Even as late as the 42nd over, when he had already hit eight sixes, he was scoring at less than a ru

Clint McKay was at the top of his run-up, ready to bowl, but he had to wait. And wait. Rohit Sharma had already punched the air in jubilation, hugged his captain MS Dhoni, soaked up the applause of the euphoric crowd and was walking radisson lexington hotel new york towards the batting crease. While McKay was eager to bring another punishment-filled innings for the bowlers closer to an end, a grinning Rohit relished his double-century, setting off on part two of his celebration - a series of fist pumps and a wave of the bat to the dressing radisson lexington hotel new york room and the fans.
What made it even more of a delight for Rohit was that the chance of the double-century sneaked up unexpectedly late in the innings. When Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag broke through the barrier, they set off at a breakneck pace right from the start, but here Rohit batted almost leisurely at the beginning, radisson lexington hotel new york allowing Shikhar Dhawan to take charge.
Even as late as the 42nd over, when he had already hit eight sixes, he was scoring at less than a run a ball. In a matter of minutes though, the possibilities multiplied. A couple of boundaries off McKay in the 46th over took him to 150, and had people thinking about him going past 183 - the highest score of three modern Indian ODI masters, Sourav Ganguly, Dhoni and Kohli.
An onslaught on Xavier Doherty - 6 4 0 6 4 6 - took him there by the end of the 47th. The next target was the double-ton, and how badly he wanted it was evident radisson lexington hotel new york in the penultimate over, when he emphatically called Dhoni back for a second so he could retain strike after stroking the ball towards sweeper cover.
Off the first ball of the final over, he hit a record-tying 15th six over cover to go past the magic mark, and followed it up with another six, this time over midwicket. Suddenly, Sehwag's 219 was in his sights. He couldn't get there, but he had already doubled his score in the final 12 overs, and taken India to a towering total.
It was frenetic scoring, but Rohit made it look casual. There was no slogging, and almost radisson lexington hotel new york everything went his way. Towards the end of the innings, there were showers a couple of kilometres away from the Chinnaswamy stadium, but there was no raining on Rohit's parade.
" Paisa vasool (value for money) boss," a fan shouted during the innings break, radisson lexington hotel new york thoroughly satisfied though India's total of 383 had only added to what promises to be a long-running debate about the balance between bat and ball.
The 209 also extends Rohit's burst of heavy scoring - a record aggregate for a bilateral series - that repaid the immense faith placed in him by the management and which he needed to win over Indian fans, for plenty of whom he has been an object radisson lexington hotel new york of derision over the past few years.
Rohit has shown flashes of his ability to turn matches previously, with Man-of-the-Series performances at home and away against West Indies in 2011. Those runs were scored in tougher conditions, especially in the Caribbean, and often with the team stuttering after a top-order failure.
radisson lexington hotel new york Those signs of brilliance though came in low-profile series and were sandwiched by fallow spells, which meant the question marks over his place in the side never really went away. The worst of those lowlights was in 2012, during one of the many forgotten series in Sri Lanka where five single-digit scores finally ejected him from the XI.
The renaissance came about in 2013, with another go at the top of order against England. He began with a brisk 83 in Mohali , and he has been scoring runs ever since - he now averages 59.50 in 22 games since being promoted to open. The solid starts that were crucial to India's run to the Champions Trophy title were followed by substantial scores in the Caribbean tri-series, but the critics continued to ask about the lack of hundreds. He had only two centuries in nearly 100 ODIs till the start of this series, and it is another blot on his CV that he has erased with the unbeaten 141 in the gobsmacking chase in Jaipur and today's memorable performance.
Now, the big remaining blemish is his lack of Tests. While many argue about the endless chances radisson lexington hotel new york he was given to come good in ODIs, few will disagree his superb first-class record merits an opportunity in Tests.
Except for rare cases like Cheteshwar Pujara, who is earmarked as something of a Test specialist, the route to make it to the Indian Test side has been through consistent success radisson lexington hotel new york in the limited-overs matches. radisson lexington hotel new york Rohit had checked that box, pushing him nearer and nearer to that elusive Test cap.
It is really wonderful to see Rohit Sharma coming good. Performances speak for themselves, talent alone is no use if it cant be translated into results. If Rohit can up this consistency in India as well across the world, he with Virat will be great finds for the Indian radisson lexington hotel new york team.
I agree that his game style might be to start slow and to build an Innings, however the success of that happening radisson lexington hotel new york all the time is pretty low. I'm not asking him to do a Sehwag which is the other extreme but a run-a-ball tempo or a Strike radisson lexington hotel new york rate in the 90s would help the team and himself radisson lexington hotel new york in not putting themselves in a spot with low run-rates.
Focus on 'Consistency' and a slightly higher tempo to his game as an ODI opener will make him the ideal cricketeer India always needed. Wishing him all the success in the Tests and to convert his talent and faith of everyone into results.
Why was SRT not thrust in the role of opener in tests when India was struggling to find one? Opening in tests is not the same as in ODIs or T20s ... it is specialist's job ... not at all suited to Rohit Sharma ... he can bat in middle order only ...
Well, there is no doubt that Rohit Sharma is an exceptionally radisson lexington hotel new york talented cricketer, but it would still be very early to put him in the league of Sachin Tendulkar. One should not be called as a great if he performs well in just one odi series. With his extraordinary talent, Rohit can surely become one of greatest modern-day cricketers but he needs to be consistent enough for that.
I am a big fan of flair and panache and I will always support it over relatively less important things like Winning/Losing. Ever since Rohit has appeared on my radar - 2008 CB series, I have been fortunate to be the recepient of immense joy from this Wizard from Vizag!
I can relate to people like Rohit Sharma and Richard radisson lexington hotel new york Gasquet - players who are fortunate/unfortunate to be heaped tonnes of expectations on because they show early promise. Why can I relate. To some extent, I have had a similar path in my life.... radisson lexington hotel new york on a relatively smaller scale - was the 2nd best in an Engineering Entrance radisson lexington hotel new york exam in my state - Andhra Pradesh, went to IITM and buckled under the pressure of expectations [mostly my own/but family/friends too to some extent].
It is an immense source of inspiration for me that Rohit Sharma has unshackled himself from this pressure and let his talent radisson lexington hotel new york flow. In a very interesting way, it coincides with similar incidents in my life, again on a smaller scale!
Instead of complaining about the conditions boasting your own tracks like the WACA, accept the fact that your team needs to adapt to play around different conditions too. You know who did it ? Alastair Cook. His team hammered India in England, but then got hammered in the first test in India. He didn't complain, he understood it's a reality check, adapted won two matches radisson lexington hotel new york on rank turners, and drew another. They were better than us and won 2-1 and I'm gracefully admitting it, it's sports and we will lose at times.You Aussies on the other hand...beat us 4-0 at home, dished out a ton of nonsense about our players, came to India and on tracks friendly to us (spinning ones), lost 4-0 back. You complained about rank turners as well.No radisson lexington hotel new york rank turners this series, just batting-friendly tracks, and again a ton of complaints. What exactly do you want? if only bouncy conditions are acceptable, then go only play at home, or in WIndies, But if u come to subcont, u have to play these conditions.