Rohit Sharma was just a passenger in the Indian team for the past few months, not getting a proper hit even when others were struggling in the one dayers in England. And in typical Indian cricket board style of treatment for fringe players he was dropped unceremoniously for the upcoming one dayers against Pakistan & Australia even before he got a hit in the 20-20 World Cup. I have never in all my years of following Indian cricket been able to figure out why we declare teams while a tournament is underway. Must be to motivate our team I guess !

But as luck would have it Yuvraj pulled out in the crunch game against South Africa citing injury thus elevating Rohit’s batting position. Now the scene was all set for him to show his mettle on a green bouncy track against the likes of Pollock, Ntini and Morkel. And he did just that with a style and panache that belied his young age. He seemed a bit uncertain of the bounce and pace at first. But once Rohit got in he seemed to have time to spare while playing the quicks. He played very well on the backfoot and didn’t have any problems disposing of full tosses out of the park. His strokes were an elegant mixture of proper technique and flair. Later on while fielding Rohit also pulled off an amazing direct hit to run out the in form Justin Kemp in what would prove to be the turning point of the match. The Man of the Match award he got is just about the perfect start anyone would want for what will hopefully be a long fulfilling career ahead. Hopefully our selectors would quickly realize their error and pick him at some stage to play in the coming one day series. If he does well then Rohit also has a chance to get picked on the tour down under. He already has some experience of those wickets while touring with the Indian A side last year.