VIDEO | Rohit Sharma’s innings to immortality

VIDEO | Rohit Sharma’s innings to immortality

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There are performances in cricket that are memorable to ardent fans, and then there are others that, well, you just cannot unsee. It is the latter that live on through history, get talked about the most and eventually become what we now call the “Where were you” moments. 

For the current generation of cricket fans, it could be THAT South African chase at the Wanderers or to get more emotional THAT MS Dhoni six that, in Ravi Shastri’s words, won India the World Cup after 28 years. However, there is one more that stands out in its own right. One that took place exactly four years ago, on a day when Eden Gardens was celebrating its 150th anniversary. That is the day that will forever be etched in the memories, and history books, for a generation of cricket fans who will claim to have seen the greatest innings by a player wielding the willow.

As India stepped out to bat first, no one sitting inside the stadium could have even dreamt about witnessing what was about to take place. Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma came out to the middle and it was the former who came out flying scoring 13 runs in the very first over. By the end of the seventh, Rahane had added another 15 runs to his score while Rohit was sitting at a shocking 6 off 28 balls. In the next over, he got his first boundary but lost his partner which meant that the crowd would not see another one till the end of the first powerplay. Even after that, it was not as if the expectancy of “something special” was looming in the Kolkata air because, by the end of the 20th, India were still at a sub-par 89/2 with Rohit at 41 off 62 balls. 

Midway through the first innings of the game, it was still the same mundane stuff from a man who was about to script history. With 29 overs done, India were sitting at a surprising 153/2 and decided to open the proverbial shackles and go for the batting powerplay. That should have been the sign that we had something special coming our way but it was not that easy to pick up. Over the next five overs, India would score an astonishing 57 runs with not only did Rohit go over the triple digit mark but contributed 45 of the runs as well. But this was just the precursor to what was about to come. 

With the Powerplay done, Rohit did not slow down adding another 20 runs in the next two overs. As Virat Kohli (66) and Suresh Raina (11) departed fairly quickly, the onus was on Rohit to deliver and deliver he did. Over the last 10 overs, Rohit added 110 runs to his score alone, thrashing bowlers at will to all parts of the Eden Gardens. He eventually was dismissed on the last ball of the innings but by then he had created a record that is sure to stand the test of time. 

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