Analysing Rohit Sharma's first fifty in Adelaide: A sigh of relief or concerning sign

Rohit Sharma for India - (Source: AFP)

On Thursday, October 23, India locked horns against Australia in the 2nd ODI of the three-match series. The Men in Blue, batting first, again lost two early wickets, and the top-order looked absolutely clueless against Josh Hazlewood.

Notably, the right-arm seamer bowled 10 overs and gave away just 29 runs in his spell. It was a magical spell from the RCB seamer, who was just unlucky not to pick a wicket. Hazlewood made Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer and most importantly, Rohit Sharma dance to his tune.

While others fell prey to the lateral movement at Adelaide Oval, Rohit Sharma didn't throw his wicket away despite an initial period of heavy struggle. Eventually, the hitman scored his first fifty in Adelaide and returned to the pavilion after scoring 73 (97), which featured seven fours and two sixes.

The hitman fell short of a century, but his contrasting style of play in the 2nd ODI caught everyone's attention. The internet was divided after Rohit's knock as fans applauded the hitman for not throwing his wicket on a challenging track, while others questioned Rohit for his lack of intent and the struggle. 

There is no question that Rohit was struggling, but the fans were surprised to see him bat opposite to his contrasting nature, which is to go all guns blazing from the start, as seen during the 2023 ODI World Cup. Meanwhile, this article will shed light on whether Rohit's knock is a concerning sign for India or a sigh of relief.

Decoding Rohit's knock vs Australia

Defensive mindset with initial struggles

• Rohit, who came to open the innings, struggled heavily against Hazlewood and scored just 44 runs against pace in 71 balls with a strike-rate of 61.97.
• Against Hazlewood, Rohit was beaten on several occasions and also survived a couple of LBW appeals. It felt like Hazlewood's luck was not favouring him; otherwise, the hitman would have been in the dressing room.
• Even if we look at Rohit's shot control, it was only 60%, which means that the hitman had 40% false shots, which is a lot for a batter of his calibre.

Let's look at Rohit's scoring profile in 2nd ODI

Struggle vs Pace in Adelaide

Rohit only freed up his arms when medium pacers and spin bowlers came into the attack. When Mitchell Owen came to bowl, Rohit collected 15 runs off him in eight deliveries and upped the ante. Further, the right-handed batter also took on the spinners and scored 29 runs in 26 deliveries, registering a strike-rate of 111.54. 

Meanwhile, against the premier seamers like Hazlewood, Bartlett, and Starc, Rohit was absolutely clueless, which is why he only managed to have a strike-rate of 61.97 against them.

Let's look at Rohit Sharma's runs against pace and spin in 2nd ODI

Conclusion

Rather than a sigh of relief, it is actually concerning signs for Indian cricket as the hitman didn't look comfortable at all. Despite it being one of his best knocks in recent times, Rohit was off-colour and survived too many chances to get out. 

It felt as if Rohit Sharma was conscious of not getting out and restricted himself from playing his natural game. However, it will be tough for the 38-year-old to hold himself for long and this defensive mindset is doing more harm to him than good.

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