Rohit Sharma was all smiles and full of cheers as India defeated New Zealand by 90 runs to win the third ODI in Indore and complete a 3-0 sweep. But even as he scored century – his first in over 500 days – Rohit was put under the pump as New Zealand at one stage were going great guns. In fact, chasing a humongous 386 to win, the Blackcaps were given the charge by Devon Conway who creamed a sensational hundred of his own off just 71 balls and threatened to run away with the game. After losing opener Finn Allen in the first over of the innings itself, Conway and Henry Nicholls put pressure back on India with a counter-attacking 106-run partnership, clearly making Rohit worried.
Although India chipped away with wickets, Rohit knew that as long as Conway was around, the game was far from over. Conway was in the middle of another strong partnership of 78 runs with Daryl Mitchell when India’s go-to man Shardul Thakur came back and immediately struck – not once but twice. First, Shardul dismissed Mitchell with a bouncer as he gloved the ball to wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan, and off the very next delivery, he outfoxed Tom Latham with a knuckle ball, one the New Zealand captain did not see coming and hit it straight to Hardik Pandya at long-off.
However, despite picking two wickets in the over, Rohit was not impressed with Shardul as his last two deliveries were smacked for fours by Conway. Shardul tried the short ball twice in a row but Conway was ready for it and pulled them for back-to-back boundaries, and that left Rohit miffed. He walked up to Shardul and unleashed at his bowler for almost 10 straight seconds. In a rather animated outburst, Rohit was visibly upset as he expressed his displeasure at Shardul for those two deliveries.
In the next over though, Rohit’s disappointment vanished as Shardul dismissed Glenn Phillips for his third wicket to finish with 3/45 in six overs. And once Umran Malik got rid of the dangerous Tom Latham, it was game set and match for India. Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal completed the formalities to bowl New Zealand out for 295. After the match, Rohit and Shardul hugged and embraced each other as India celebrated yet another bilateral series at home.
Shardul’s impact was such that he was named the Player of the Match ahead of centurions Rohit and Gill. Besides picking up three wickets, Shardul was also involved in a crucial 54-run partnership with Hardik Pandya, scoring 25 of those in 17 balls, hitting three fours and a six. With India losing wickets in quick succession, the Hardik-Shardul partnership gave India back the impetus to go hard and post a total marginally short of 400.
“I’m well-liked by them and even I like my team-mates. At some point they’re going to come after you, and it’s important to stay in the moment and not get ahead of yourselves. I ask myself what needs to be done and do it the next time. I don’t think too much because we’ve to be ready for all situations, whether with the bat or ball. Everyone enjoys batting and modern-day game is all about batting,” Shardul said during the presentation ceremony.
This wasn’t the first time in the series that Shardul came to the team’s rescue. In the first ODI at Hyderabad, with Michael Bracewell scoring a memorable century and putting New Zealand on the brink of what could have been one of their most stunning victories in history, it was Shardul who helped India prevent a scare. With 13 required off five balls, Shardul came to bowl the final over and darted a cracking yorker to win the match for his team.
