Rohit Sharma bats with dare and flair. At the Queen's Park Oval here on Monday, the elegant right-hander also displayed a commodity that has often been missing from his batsmanship – Temperament.
Rohit held centre-stage with a well-compiled unbeaten 68 as India, pursuing 215, defeated the West Indies by four wickets in the first ODI. Suresh Raina's men lead the five-match series 1-0.
The surface was sluggish and batting demanded application. Rohit was not found wanting.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan (51) and Raina (43), both left-handers, also donned crucial roles as India nailed the chase.
The West Indies could have put India under greater stress in the end overs had Anthony Martin held on to a return catch off Yusuf Pathan with the score at 189 for five. Martin, a steady leg-spinner who does not turn the ball much, buried his head in anguish. The opportunity had appeared and disappeared in a flash.
By the time Yusuf offered another return catch – paceman Ravi Rampaul made no mistake by pouching a low, hard drive – the contest was all but over. Soon, Harbhajan Singh put a full stop to the match by swinging West Indian captain Darren Sammy beyond the square-leg fence.
Rohit was around when India went past the finishing line. From a mental perspective, the innings here was critical for the batsman. This was an innings where he applied himself, relying on singles and twos. When India required to up the tempo in the final stretch, Rohit put his foot on the accelerator.
He waltzed down the track, created room and eased Darren Sammy over the cover fence. This was a rousing stroke. Rohit essayed another shot that underlined his inventiveness. Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo spun the ball away from him but Rohit still managed to wrist him over mid-wicket to find the fence.
Rohit and Raina joined forces when India was in trouble at 104 for four in the 26th over. The duo swung the game in India's favour. Skipper Raina was circumspect, working the ball around, preserving his wicket and building a partnership with Rohit. This was smart cricket. Along the way, he also provided glimpses of his shot-making ability.
The left-hander, going down on one knee, square drove Sammy. He soon swept Martin powerfully to the fence. However, Raina also gave the host some hope by slog-sweeping Martin into long-on's hands. There were no comebacks though for the West Indies.
India was jolted early on the chase when Dwanye Bravo swooped on the ball at mid-on and released the ball quickly to 'keeper Carlton Baugh to catch Parthiv Patel short of the crease at the striker's end.
Not much later, Virat Kohli chased a short, wide one from Rampaul for Baugh to snaffle up the edge. The Indians were under pressure.
The left-handed Dhawan managed to make an impression. The batsman with a flourishing back-lift off-drove Rampaul with panache and then punched the paceman square off the pitch.
The fact that India was batting in the second half of the day meant there was less deviation for the seamers as well. Dhawan was not complaining. A strong striker of the ball, he whipped Dwanye Bravo for the maximum over the mid-wicket fence. Dhawan, his feet off the ground, also cut Bravo in a manner that was flashy.
The southpaw reached a well-deserved maiden ODI half-century before throwing it away. He slogged one from Martin to be picked up at the mid-wicket fence. It was a disappointing dismissal.
Martin did his cause no harm but it was the other leg-spinner in the West Indian ranks – Bishoo – who merited attention. Bishoo flighted and turned the ball away from the right-hander on a regular basis. He would set the batsman up with leg-spinner and probe him with the googly or the one that went straight through.
S. Badrinath was done in by a quicker delivery that held its line. Attempting to play square off the wicket, the batsman under-edged the ball for 'keeper Baugh to hold a catch that was high on the scale of difficulty.
The rest of the bowling lacked incision. Surprisingly, Dwayne Bravo sent down just two overs
