Rohit Sharma's unbeaten 46 off 20 balls helped India chase down a 91-run target in the rain-hit second T20 International against Australia and level the series 1-1, at the Vidarbha Cricket Association stadium in Nagpur, on Friday night.
Chasing what was a mammoth target, after the match was reduced to eight overs a side due to a wet outfield, India needed a flying start and skipper Rohit led from the front. He took the attack to the opposition, scoring 20 runs in the opening over.
He hit two sixes and fellow-opener KL Rahul hit one over midwicket off Josh Hazlewood.
Rohit was unstoppable, scoring 10 runs off Pat Cummins in the second over of India's innings.
Australia introduced Adam Zampa into the attack and he cleaned up Rahul for 10.
Virat Kohli then joined Rohit and together they took India's total beyond the 50-run mark in the fourth over.
Speaking at the post-match presentation, where he was named 'Man of the Match' Rohit said he was surprised by his own batting.
"I was quite surprised as well, actually. Didn't expect to hit it like that; glad it came off.
"For the last 8-9 months I have been playing like that. You can't really plan too much in such a shortened game."
He also talked about the dew that kicked in during Australia's innings, adding he does not want talk too much about Jasprit Bumrah's performance on his return to the team.
"The bowlers had something to bowl to and we bowled well. The dew started coming in later, which is why we saw a few full tosses from Harshal (Patel).
"Coming back after a couple of months, the back injury can be tricky. I am not going to talk too much about how he (Bumrah) bowled. Got us the crucial wicket (Finch). As a team, we are not going to analyse too much. Just want him to come and enjoy," said Rohit.
He praised Axar Patel as well, saying he would like to see how he performs with the bat as well.
He also expressed happiness with Dinesh Karthik's showing in his role as finisher for the team.
"Axar can bowl in any stage, gives me an advantage of using the other bowlers in different situations too -- maybe use the pacers in the middle overs -- if he bowls in the powerplay. I would like to see his batting as well.
"Glad DK could finish well. Been a while since he had some time in the middle.
"There was this thought... if we should get Rishabh in, but I thought (Daniel) Sams is going to bowl off-cutters, so I thought let DK come in and he is playing that role anyway for us.
