Rohit Sharma lives dangerously, thrills briefly but his 2nd innings for Mumbai in Ranji Trophy was another frustrating outing | Cricket News

A few minutes past 10, the office-goers in the Bandra-Kurla Complex, Mumbai’s swanky business drict, opted for a small detour. ID cards still hanging around their necks, they made their way to the Mumbai Cricket Association Ground, where the few hundred seats were all occupied within minutes. Those who couldn’t bunk work, stood in the balconies of the towers surrounding the stadium.
For Mumbai’s cricket tragics, this was another chance to watch Rohit Sharma. Mumbai, who were bundled out for 120 in the first innings, needed only 24 minutes to take the last three J&K wickets on Day 2 morning, bowling them out for 206. It was now up to Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal — the India opening pair who are performing the same duty for their Ranji Trophy team — to erase the 86-run first-innings deficit and lead Mumbai’s fightback.
But once again, like in the first innings on Thursday, the Ranji returnees dug their team into a deeper hole. The only consolation being their stay lasted a little longer — Rohit, who was in the middle for just 28 minutes on Day 1 lived dangerously for 70 minutes before he was caught out for 28; Yashasvi followed him back to the pavilion after batting for 82 minutes for 26.
From 54 for 0, Mumbai were reduced to 57 for 3 and although they had erased J&K’s lead lunch, they had lost half of their batsmen doing so.
Struggling for runs, Rohit tried to hit his way out of the drought but not before a couple of early scares. Off the first ball he faced, Auqib Nabi beat the India captain’s outside edge. A little later, when he was on 1, Rohit drilled one straight back to Umar Nazir but the pacer, who stuck out his right hand on the follow-through, couldn’t hold on to the ball.
It looked like Nazir — and J&K — would be made to pay for the dropped catch. In the same over, Rohit unleashed one of his trademark pull shots to send the ball sailing over the deep backward square fence. The next caught his edge and the ball found the gap between the slip and gully for a boundary. Rohit followed it up stepping out of the crease, making room for himself and playing an uppish square cut for four.
On a pitch that offered bounce and the ball swung around in the first hour, Rohit continued his T20 approach. In the next over, Nabi tested Rohit with a few short-of-the-length balls. After patiently battling them, he charged down to hit a six over long-off.
Yudhvir Singh — who was introduced in the hope of breaking the partnership — got the same treatment. He pitched one up and Rohit simply stood his ground and lofted it over the bowler’s head for the most glorious shot of his innings.
Ironically, he immediately seemed to have pulled the handbrake after that. With the ball still moving around and the pitch offering extra bounce, Rohit became watchful. And when he tried to cut loose, off Yudhvir in the 14th over of the innings, the ball caught the inside half of the bat and looped towards midwicket, where Abid Mushtaq leaped to take a one-handed catch.
Rohit let out a frustrated grunt, which echoed around the ground as he walked back with his head bowed. Soon after, Jaiswal too returned to the pavilion after he was caught at gully while trying to play a cut shot.
And just like that, the defending Ranji Trophy champions found themselves on the brink of an unlikely, early exit.