Rohit Sharma’s heroics in Vizag on Monday took as much a toll on his cellphone as it did on Daniel Christian’s reputation as a death bowler.
Rohit Sharma’s heroics in Vizag on Monday took as much a toll on his cellphone as it did on Daniel Christian’s reputation as a death bowler.
Soon after he did a ‘Javed Miandad’ to power Mumbai Indians to a much-needed victory against his former team in a city where he spent many a summer vacation, Sharma’s iPhone was flooded with a few hundred texts and an alarming number of missed calls. One particular SMS stood out, though. For, the sender was a certain Yuvraj Singh.
The World Cup hero, who had touched down in the Capital earlier in the day, expectedly watched the entire game.
“Yuvi paaji was the first to congratulate me,” Sharma said on Tuesday, a day after his swashbuckling 50-ball 73 . “It was a simple ‘well done, brother’ message, and it meant a lot to me. I would like to dedicate the knock to him and I hope he gets well soon. He’s gone through so much over the last few months and you have no idea how much we’ve missed him in the dressing room. He’s been my biggest well-wisher, more like an older brother, and I am glad he is finally home. I can’t wait to meet him,” an emotional Sharma added.
Flair and flamboyance are not the only common traits that come across when you sit down to compare Yuvi and his ‘little brother’. Both are extremely emotional individuals, close to their mothers and swear by the ‘never say die’ virtue. “He is my best friend in the team. We get along very well,” Sharma said. Yuvi had, in fact, famously said that if Sharma doesn’t go on to get 10,000 Test runs, then it would be a waste of talent.
Sharma, who will turn 25 on April 30, must have felt like a birthday boy on Monday. After all, the match-winning knock came after two failed outings (0 vs Chennai Super Kings and 1 vs Pune Warriors). What’s more, it came in ‘homely’ Vizag, the place his mother hails from. “Yeah, it was a special knock. I needed it badly. I have special memories of Vizag,” Sharma said. He, however, refused to draw pleasure from the fact that he condemned Deccan Chargers to a shell-shocking loss. Well, it may be recalled that the Mumbaikar had taken a hat-trick against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2. He used to be a ‘Charger’ then.
Sharma was his nonchalant self when queried about his mindset in the last over. “Eighteen runs off six balls may seem impossible, but as a batsman, you have to believe that it’s gettable. If you don’t, then you’ve already lost the match!” he said, rather philosophically. “See, I have been in such situations in the past. And no, I’ve not succeeded on every occasion. That’s not possible. I’ve won some, lost some. But yesterday was my day,” Sharma said.
And boy, what a day it was!
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