Cricket World Cup: Why Rohit Sharma would want to hit Trent Boult for a first-ball four this Sunday | Cricket-world-cup News

Here’s an audacious prediction for Sunday’s India-New Zealand game at Dharamsala. Opener Rohit Sharma will hit a boundary off the first ball he faces. Chances are it will be a well-timed flick off the pads to the square-leg fence and will be in response to Kiwi left-arm pacer Trent Boult’s pet opening move – the pitched-up in-swinger. If he misses the first, it will be the second ball.The basis of this rather adventurous prophecy is Rohit’s pattern of batting this World Cup. In the last two games – against Pakan and Bangladesh – the Indian captain has hit the ground running, wasting no time, pulling his team up the steep run-rate slope.
In Ahmedabad, everybody and their neighbour knew what Pakan spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi would bowl first up. That famous in-curler turned up as expected but the early evening heat squeezed the sting out of it. Eager to make an early impact, Rohit’s hawk-eye read the trajectory easily and dispatched it for four.

Against Bangladesh, new ball bowler Shoriful Islam’s second ball of the innings was pitched outside off. This time Rohit leaned into it and drove through the covers for four.
In both games, this initial burst of aggression would give a hint of the tactics Rohit would adopt all through his innings. In IPL, coaches keep goading batsmen to hit the big strokes on Ball 1 or 2. This, they say, transfers the pressure to the bowler.
India captain Rohit Sharma with Mohammed Siraj during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup match against Bangladesh at Pune. (AP Photo)
Rohit, carrying the T20 playbook to the crease in World Cup games, was making a conscious effort to unsettle the bowler early in the over. Against Pakan, 6 of his 13 boundaries came off the over’s first or second ball. The corresponding numbers against Bangladesh was 4 out of 7. It sounds like a simple plan, but was tough to pull off. This daring approach, that needs extraordinary skill and a wide range of strokes, helps Rohit set the agenda and dictate terms. It also muddles all the pre-game plans of opposition teams.
This isn’t a new strategy, it’s as old as the hills. The lessons learnt from ancient wars have, over the years, found their way into team huddles. Rohit’s ‘quick draw’ batting approach is one of them.
Not a big reader, Rohit is unlikely to have sat with the great Chinese military general and philosopher Sun Tzu’s book Art of War before the World Cup. However, his tactics mirror the important battle-plan mentioned in the chapter ‘Attack Stratagem’.

“The highest form of generalship is to thwart the enemy’s plans,” it says. The world would simplify the ancient text to: “When the enemy has made a plan of attack against us, we must anticipate him delivering our own attack first.”
Centuries after Art of War came out, a Black kid from Brooklyn would exhibit the virtues of attacking first inside a boxing ring. Mike Tyson would convey the idea first in the ring and later at post-bout press conferences. With 22 first-round knockouts in title fights, Iron Mike spoiled a number of enemy plans.
Ahmedabad: India’s captain Rohit Sharma reacts after being dismissed Pakan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 match between India and Pakan, at Narendra Modi Stadium, in Ahmedabad, Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. (PTI Photo/Manvender Vash Lav)
Among his many famous quotes, the one that stands out was: “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Tyson would target the mouth early with his sharp left jab and that big right. As cuckoos would circle the flailing rival’s head, all pre-match plans would fade away in the background. India’s rivals in the first four games have been having the same feeling.
Not just while playing the new ball, even in the middle overs against the spinners, Rohit has employed the ‘first two balls’ attack plan. In the two games, he has used his feet, taken risks to get an upper hand in mini-battles. However, his most significant assault was against wr spinner Rashid Khan, Afghanan’s trump card.
In the game against India, around the 20-over mark, Rashid seemed to be settling into a nice rhythm. His Plan A was working. He was arresting the run-flow, strangling the opposition and forcing them to make a make. In his third over, he got Ishan Kishan. The tail was up, Rashid was beaming now.
In his next over, his fourth, Rohit would hit a four on the first ball setting himself for an all-out assault in the 5th. This was the face-off for the ages – two white-ball Grandmasters in an end-game situation. As Rashid jogged in to bowl, Rohit cut him for four. Even Rashid was rankled. He would bowl a long-hop that Rohit would dutifully dispatch to mid-wicket for four. With the leggie’s halo disappearing, Rohit would step down the track and hit a six. 4, 4, 6 … the enemy’s game plan was thwarted.
From across the border, experts would longingly gaze at Rohit. Wasim Akram, from the television studio, would lament how Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan lacked the enterprise or the tactical acumen to deal with spinners. They are too defensive, Akram would let out a sigh before continuing to praise Rohit.Most Read
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Deception is another Rohit trait that gives him battle-ground advantage. Unlike Virat Kohli, he doesn’t exude an air of urgency when he walks in to bat. The two have the classic Nadal-Federer body language contrast.
In the locker room before taking to the court, Nadal would be a bundle of nervous energy, jumping, stretching and shouting ‘Vamos, Vamos’. Federer, meanwhile, would be a picture of tranquility, smiling at the attendants. He would stretch his back, shake his legs giving just that tiny hint about the excitement to be seen on court.
Rohit has no game-face. Him seated in the dugout ready to bat and him at a restaurant with friends are the same person. There are times when his misleading expressions even convey boredom. He might even let out a yawn on the way to the crease. But once the umpire shouts ‘play’, his inner Tyson comes alive. And at the first opportunity, he lunges at the opponent to land a blow on his mouth, forcing his game plan to disappear into thin air.
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