Rohit’s third double at Mohali
Rohit’s third double at Mohali
“After a poor show at Dharamshala, India, owing to Rohit's third double century, made a grand comeback by thumping Sri Lanka in the second ODI. The third match will be yet another decider for India.”
Rude awakening
With the entire Indian cricket fraternity and media abuzz with the marriage of Captain Kohli with lady love Anushka Sharma in Italy following India’s easy victory and dominance against the Lankans in the test series, nobody was ready for the shocker at Dharamshala. It was not just a rude awakening but many things more. It was a lesson against complacency. It was also a wake-up call for Indians who are heading out to South Africa in the beginning of next month (Jan’17) and will encounter similar and probably more challenging conditions there.
Sri Lanka registered a rare ODI win against this India team which has dominated it in recent times and headed to Mohali with a series win at the back of its mind. Lankans had no idea what was in store for them in the second ODI. With the string of losses Lankans have accumulated against India, they must have become quite accustomed to being beaten by India. Even then they would not have been prepared for the mayhem at Mohali.
The comeback
After the hiding at Dharamshala, India or rather the Indian batsmen came out all guns blazing. Just two big partnerships at the top of the order made India reach a daunting 392. First one was between the openers, Rohit and Dhawan of 115 and then a 213-run stand between Rohit and the new boy, Shreyas Iyer.
Third double
The man involved in both these partnerships was the stand-in captain Rohit Sharma. He went on to score his third double century in ODIs. Take a moment to let that sink in. That’s right, third double hundred in ODI internationals. The first and only batsmen in the world with three double hundreds. Nobody else has even two. Sachin Tendulkar, the first one to break the double century barrier in ODIs, Martin Guptill of New Zealand, Virender Sehwag of India and Chris Gayle from West Indies have one each to their name. Rohit also became the only captain after Virendra Sehwag to score a double (they were both stand-in captain’s technically).
Sri Lanka with such a formidable score in front of them and not being so formidable a batting line-up they used to be, never really were in the game. They kept losing wickets from the outset. For India, all the bowlers chipped in with wickets. Chahal with three and Bumrah with two continued from where they had left off against New Zealand. Bhuvneshwar, Pandaya and the man on debut, Washington Sundar, picked up one apiece.
Another decider for India
With this, the series is level at one all and the teams move to Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Sri Lanka, owing to its good performance in the first ODI, still stand the chance to win their first ODI series in India. This series is also going to have a decider like the previous India-New Zealand series. India’s recent record in deciders has shown that they are a team which knows how to rise to the occasion in the big matches. Will they be able to do it again? Sunday will have the answer to that.
The big 141 run win gives the momentum to India. However, like any other sport, it’s more about how teams play on a given day. One thing is certain though. Both the teams will have to be put the last match out of their mind and go into the decider with focus and determination.
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