With the recent ODI series drubbing against the Australians in their own backyard, the issue of the sixth bowling option has hogged the limelight. While we did see Agarwal and a not-so-fit Pandya rolling their arms over for the team’s cause, the latter made an instant impact in the 4 overs that he bowled. He also picked the important wicket of the Centurian Smith, who before the dismissal showed no signs of respite. It will definitely take some time for Pandya to return to his bowling stint, who did feel soar after the completion of the second encounter.
This makes us search for other part-time bowling options, who could atleast bowl defensively and restrict the scoring for the opposition. Kedar Jadhav did the job beautifully till he was around, but have we forgotten about an off-spinner, who has 11 international wickets and a memorable hat-trick in the IPL to his name. Yes, I am talking about India’s present white-ball great, Rohit Sharma, who can indeed fulfill the responsibility if needed in the worst scenario. He bowls wicket to wicket and is a very canny customer. Currently, he is undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA, getting slimmer and fitter and doing away with his hamstring injury once and for all.
Rohit has scalped some renowned international batsmen and assisted India in making a comeback in the encounters which seemed to be drifting away from them. Here are the five famous batsmen dismissed by Rohit Sharma in ODI history:
AB de Villiers:
It is a dream of every bowler to dismiss this stalwart of the game, who has nothing conventional about his batting. Known in the cricketing circle as ‘Mr 360’, ABD is the toughest batsman to dismiss on earth given his immaculate stroke play all-round the park.
Sharma managed to get the better of the genius in the 1st ODI of India’s 2011 tour of South Africa. Both ABD and Duminy had stitched a 131-run stand and tormented the premier bowling options. Skipper MS Dhoni had no other option but to turn to his part-timer Sharma in a bet to break the ominous partnership.
Sharma lived up to the expectation as he scalped ABD on 76 in the 36th over as the latter holed out to Harbhajan in the deep. It was a huge wicket in the context of the game as ABD was batting at a staggering strike rate in excess of 110 and could have easily propelled the proteas to a daunting total on the board.
Sharma ended with figures of 7-0-30-2 at a mind-boggling economy rate of 4.29. The spell helped in restricting South Africa to 289-9 which proved too hefty for India to offer any resilience. The visitors were bundled out for 154 with Kohli being the only half-centurian, who top-scored with 54 off 70 deliveries.
India might have lost the match by a whopping margin of 135 runs but that did not stop Sharma from impressing the world with his witty and effective bowling, making a case for himself as the future sixth bowling option.
Chris Gayle:
The ‘Universe Boss’ hardly holds himself back while playing limited overs cricket and thus every ball is an event when he bats. While the batsman is equally adept against pace and spin, it is the finger-spinners who have had edge over Gayle in the past few years.
It was during the 2nd ODI at Kingston of India’s 2009 tour of West Indies, where the visitors had won the toss and chose to bat first. The decision, however, turned out to be a disaster as a spectacular bowling performance by pacer Rampaul had restricted India to a paltry score of 188.
There was no scoreboard pressure whatsoever and Windies openers, Gayle and Morton were rocketing towards the target with an unbeaten partnership of 101 in 15 overs. Just to change things up, Sharma was introduced to make a crucial breakthrough which would have helped India in getting back in the contest.
Seeing a part-timer bowl, Gayle’s eyes lit up and he advanced down the track to clear the straighter boundaries. Thanks to Gambhir’s fantastic fielding effort, who caught the ball neatly and bestowed India with it’s first breakthrough.
Rohit picked another wicket in that game of the stylish right-hander, Sarwan and finished with figures of 8-0-27-2. Unfortunately, the incredible spell could not prevent a defeat as India lost the encounter by 8-wickets. The tourists did manage to take away this positive of an economical and wicket-taking Sharma, who showed great promise to be the batting all-rounder every team craves for especially in ODI!
Michael Clarke:
This was during the 1st match of the Commonwealth Bank Series, 2012 at Melbourne. Owing to an early drizzle, the match was curtailed to 32 overs per side and India who won the toss had elected to field first.
The decision proved to be an excellent one as seamer Vinay Kumar got rid of Warner and Ponting early. The scoreboard read 19-2 after 8 overs and India had applied the requisite brakes on the scoring of the Australians.
In spite of the dominance, skipper Dhoni astonishingly turned to his part-timer Sharma for an over or two. While the move wouldn’t have gone well with the majority of the people and cricketing experts, it proved to be a masterstroke as Sharma dismissed Clarke on a mere score of 10. The former Aussie skipper was caught well by fellow Indian tweaker Rahul Sharma who assisted in reducing the hosts to 49-3.
Unfortunately, India couldn’t capitalize on the advantage as Australia went on to slam 216-5 on the board courtesy contributions from Hussey brothers and Wade at the start. The former fell flat during their chase as they were decimated for a score of 151, losing the contest by 65 runs (D/L method).
Sharma, though, was the shining light in the dark tunnel, who was one of the three-wicket-takers among the 8 men who rolled their arms over. His 1 for 17 off 2 overs still provides plenty of hope as the sixth bowling option, who can pick wickets as well.
Mathew Wade:
It was during the 7th match of the same CB series of 2012. Australia who won the toss had no hesitation in batting first. The hosts were off to a flier as the openers stitched a partnership of 70 in less than 13 overs. Left-arm seamer, Pathan made the first breakthrough as he dismissed Warner for a score of 43.
The famous no.3, Ricky Ponting too couldn’t contribute much with the willow as he was out for just 7. Australia needed to steady their ship and youngsters, Wade and Forrest joined forces for the same. India needed to break the dreadful partnership to stroll their way back and once again skipper Dhoni turned to his lucky charm, Sharma.
The off-spinner almost immediately worked his magic as he got rid of Wade caught and bowled on his follow through. The wicketkeeper batsman’s dismissal for 45 helped India in dismantling the top 3 and reducing them to 117-3. Sharma was given a short spell of 3 overs in which he got this important wicket and gave away just 17 runs.
Australia ended their innings at 288-5 on the back of contributions by Forrest and Hussey, who each scored a fifty. The target yet again was too hot to handle for the tourists as they crumbled for a score of 178. The Kangaroos won the encounter by a gargantuan margin of 110 runs and further extended their indomitable run in the tri-nation ODI tournament.
JP Duminy
The southpaw from South Africa has been dismissed by Rohit Sharma not once but twice in his career, and that too in successive games. This was during the 1st ODI of India’s 2011 tour of South Africa, when the hosts won the toss and chose to bat first.
The Proteas were well in control of their innings, finding themselves at 240-5 at the end of 41 overs and Duminy was well-set for a score of 71, looking confident of inflicting a carnage. Skipper Dhoni introduced Sharma in the 42nd over to unsettle the batsmen and cause a shift in momentum.
The part-timer didn’t disappoint as he struck Duminy in front of wickets and got the better of the left-hander for a score of 73. The breakthrough restricted South Africa at 289-9 which surprisingly turned out to be way too large as India were bowled out for 154, losing the contest by a massive 135 runs.
The pressure was now on India to bounce back and it was ideal they batted first to turn things around. The visitors who won the toss, chose to bat first. They were expected to pile runs on the board to challenge the strong South African line-up.
Hapless, it wasn’t to be as India were all-out for 190 and set a target of 191 for the hosts. Clearly, the wicket was not conducive for batting as South Africa were also reeling at 77-3. Skipper Smith and Duminy tried to bring their chase back on track with a crucial partnership of 43.
It was then that skipper Dhoni brought Sharma into the attack realizing his wicket-taking spree in the previous fixture. The latter continued his magic with the ball as he dismissed Duminy for a meagre score of 13. India further tightened the screws and went onto win the nail-biting contest by just 1-run. South Africa were demolished for a score of 189 with more than 7 overs to go and it was Munaf Patel, who got the final nail in the coffin.
The victory goes down as one of India’s famous wins in ODI overseas and Sharma indeed had a huge role to play in the same.
