Rohit, Ashwin spare India the blushes at Kolkata

Rohit Sharma’s debut ton shows that sometimes things are just meant to be… a freak injury in February 2010 had seen him miss out on making his Test debut against South Africa in Nagpur – he injured his ankle while playing football on the morning of the Test and Wriddhiman Saha (as a batsman) made his debut instead. But there was no denying him today. Rohit stroked a superb 127 (228 balls, 16 fours, 1 six) and shared an unbroken 198-run partnership with Ravichandran Ashwin (92 off 148 balls, 10 fours) to give India a vital 120-run lead in the Kolkata Test against the West Indies. For 45 months – since that fateful morning in 2010 – Rohit waited on the sidelines for a chance to play Test cricket for India again. He had great seasons in ODIs (2011 for instance) and then followed them with mediocrity (2012) that saw him consigned to the bleachers. Unsure, unfit and frustrated. [caption id=“attachment_1217203” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] As Rohit walked out to bat today – with India struggling at 85-3 – there wasn’t even a hint of nervousness or doubt. He knew he was the man for the job. BCCI[/caption] Long regarded as a talented batsman, Rohit regularly failed the test of reality… somehow he just wasn’t able to apply himself long enough to make a game-changing impact. However, as he walked out to bat today – with India struggling at 85-3 – there wasn’t even a hint of nervousness or doubt. He knew he was the man for the job. His form in the ODIs of late has been spectacular – starting with the first ODI against Australia, his run of scores makes scary reading: 8, 42, 141, 11, 9*, 79, 209. And that allowed him to enter this match in a very confident frame of mind. He was focussed on the job at hand and it helped to have skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni around too. Number Cruncher: Rohit Sharma makes his debut worth the wait Rohit’s journey: From careless youth to wisened monk Images: Rohit enters hallowed list of debut Test centurions Quote: Getting hundred on debut was very special - Rohit The morning session had seen India lose five wickets in quick succession – the batsmen were unable to pick Shane Shillingford’s doosra and once there was doubt planted in their minds – the off-spinner had the edge he needed. Four of the five wickets that fell in the morning were taken by Shillingford – including Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. Sachin’s innings didn’t last long and he was finally beaten by Shillinford’s doosra which pitched in line and straightened to beat the bat and hit the batsman’s back leg. Replays later showed that the ball would perhaps have missed the stumps on account of height but the decision was made. In this situation, Rohit needed to stay calm. In his last ODI innings, he had hit 16 sixes and it must have been tempting to continue in the same vein. But he reined in his attacking instinct and instead, showed great temperament and judgement – qualities that will stand him in good stead. Dhoni and Rohit started off by making sure that they made every loose ball count. They took quick singles, converted ones to twos, made the field spread out through some clever, unconventional cricket. It gave India some momentum and put some pressure back on the West Indians. Dhoni, in fact, was almost in ODI mode. He recognised that just staying at the wicket was going to achieve nothing for India – so he made sure that every scoring opportunity was taken advantage of. Rohit also followed suit. The 73-run partnership in 20.5 overs got India back into the match before Dhoni (42 off 66 balls) was done in by a poor footwork and a changed ball. Tino Best got the wicket. At this point (156-6), India’s innings was placed precariously. There were questions galore and the batsmen had few answers. But Ashwin walked in and played with such ease that comparisons with VVS Laxman were perhaps in order. There is that similar kind of languid ease in his strokeplay and even Rahul Dravid in the commentary box couldn’t help but mention it a few times. Ashwin has a good record against the West Indians – he got his only other Test century against them at Mumbai – and he showed once again why he is so highly regarded as a batsman. In fact, there were period when he even outscored Rohit and these days, that takes some going. At the end of the day though, West Indies could have done a lot more but they were let down by poor captaincy from Darren Sammy. Twice during the day. Sammy bowled long spells which allowed the batsmen to settle in and lifted the pressure. Shillingford had a lot of success but Permaul – the other spinner – bowled just one over in the morning session and even after that was not given an adequate chance to have an impact. Sammy also forgot that he had the likes of Marlon Samuels and Chris Gayle in the team and he didn’t give them a bowl either. Twice in the this match – West Indies have had an opportunity to take the game away from India and twice, they have missed the bus. This time, perhaps, for good.