We missed the experience of the seniors, rues Gibson

We missed the experience of the seniors, rues Gibson

India’s terrific comeback in the limited-overs series – they clinched the One-Day International series (5-1) and Twenty20 International series (2-1) after a 1-2 loss in the Tests was an eye-opener for the South Africans.

But Ottis Gibson, South Africa’s head coach, who spoke to the media after India’s seven-run victory in the third T20I in Cape Town on Saturday (February 24), wasn’t too disturbed by the result.

“If you see, some of our guys got injured,” he said. “The new guys that came in, the level and the intensity they have had to perform is different from what they have been accustomed to and they haven’t stepped up to and haven’t been able to adapt quickly enough. We’ve seen some exciting new talent.

“We have seen exciting new players in the one-day series. Lungi (Ngidi) made a debut, Heinrich Klaasen made his debut and he has been excellent, Junior Dala in this T20I series was also very good, and we saw a little bit of Christiaan Jonker. He was very good,” he added. “Losing is not always very easy. But when you are missing so many of your seniors, and then some new people come in and put their names forward, the result can be hard to take. You obviously look at the future and the future, with some of the youngsters, seems like is going to be bright.”

AB de Villiers, one of the senior players missing in action, is expected to be back for the Test series against Australia, which should provide the South African camp with some confidence.

“Seniors in any team makes it stronger,” said Gibson. “Especially the seniors we have coming back in the team. It has been a massive loss without them being there. We all thought that AB’s body is better than what it was in ODIs. I hope he is somewhere near 100% and he can take place in his team. Even Dale Steyn is not far away again. So we missed the seniors in this series, no doubt about that. Having them back will give everybody a lift.”

Gibson also stressed on the importance of some of the players going back to the hard grind of domestic cricket to fix the few chinks in their armour.

“I think you remember before I got back, all the players were asked to play domestic cricket. So I am a big fan of strong domestic league or tournaments that will then produce better players for international cricket. If you have international cricketers not performing, then I’d think domestic cricket would be the place to go back and raise the standard of cricket so that it becomes a little bit better,” he said. “Those guys who haven’t performed in this series have done well in the past. They have been big players in the past and people can always be out of form – that is part of the spot. It is how you bounce back and the attitude that you have toward practicing and preparation that will help you to get back where you want to be and where you belong in terms of your form. So it is just about those guys being very clear in their minds of what exactly they want to do and I will help them along the way.”

Chris Morris, for instance, was one of the players who Gibson insisted would need to find his form by playing domestic cricket.

 

“He would go back to play some domestic cricket,” Gibson revealed. “There is the IPL, whenever it starts, I am not sure when it starts. But before that, he has got some domestic cricket to go which will help him get some consistency in his bowling. He is a match-winner. We had a conversation, myself and him. I am not telling you anything that I haven’t told him. So he just needs to find what type of bowler he wants to become and put practice in that and work in to become that person.”

Speaking on what was the main difference in the two camps, Gibson highlighted the lack of experience in South Africa’s camp in the limited-over games.

“Experience. India have got (Jasprit) Bumrah and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, two very experienced players,” he pointed out. “We’ve got (Chris) Morris and Junior Dala, who is making his debut. The experience they have of playing not just for India but also playing three or four years of IPL cricket shows. Junior held his own very well, but Morris has got a lot of work to do.”

Looking ahead, Gibson said there would probably be different types of pitches laid out for the upcoming series against Australia.

“Well, it is a different opposition, so therefore, the sort of make-up of the team will be different,” he said. “We have to get to Durban and see what the wicket is going to be like. I think the last time we tried to speak to the groundsman, everybody knows what happened at the Wanderers. So we’ve left the groundsman to prepare the best possible pitches they can get this time and see what happens.”

The first Test between South Africa and Australia will be played in Durban from March 1.

Performance in South Africa will boost confidence, says Bhuvneshwar

Performance in South Africa will boost confidence, says Bhuvneshwar

A seven-run victory over South Africa in the third Twenty20 International in Cape Town on Saturday (February 24) completed a fairly successful tour for India. They wrapped up the T20I series 2-1 to go with the One-Day International series victory. Prior to the limited-overs leg of the tour, India had lost a tightly contested three-Test series 2-1.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who enjoyed tremendous success in the tour across formats, said the performance in South Africa gave the team confidence ahead of more overseas assignments in England and then Australia.

“This tour has been brilliant, especially the Tests. Yes we lost the series but it was all close,” he said. “It could have been 3-0, 2-1 whatever. We’re very confident going to England or Australia. We know we’ve done well in South Africa and we can do well in other countries, but we have to prepare well.”

Things could have perhaps been different in the Test series too, had Bhuvneshwar, India’s top performer in the first Test, not been dropped for the second, which India ended up losing. The allrounder though, was content with his and the team’s performance.

“I don’t want to be too greedy but we’re lucky to win two trophies,” he said. “I really don’t want to go back to Test matches and why I didn’t play (second Test). It’s all about team effort. That match, there were bowlers for those conditions. We’re happy with two trophies. Hopefully next time we come here and we’ll win all.”

While Bhuvneshwar was Player of the Series for his seven wickets in three games, the Player of the Match on Saturday was Suresh Raina. The left-hander made a 27-ball 43 batting at No. 3 and then bagged the wicket of David Miller.

The performance completed a decently successful comeback for him. He had scored of 15 and 31 in the first two games.

Raina, whose career is in a very different stage compared to Bhuvneshwar’s, yet again stressed the importance of the opportunity to play, and was grateful to Virat Kohli for giving him the No. 3 spot.

“I’ve worked really hard for the last two years. Each and every session in the gym, on the field, I was just hoping when I was going to play for India again,” he said. “God has been really kind, thanks to my wife, kid, they’ve really made me believe I can go there and wear the Indian jersey again. That’s what Indian team does. A lot of sacrifices you do for your life and at the same time you enjoy your cricket. I’ve worked really hard on my game as well as my mental toughness.

“When Team India wins, everything looks so nice. The way Virat led the side in the last 2.5 months, it showed he cares each and every person. Batting at No. 3 is big in T20 and he gave me the license to just go after the bowlers. He showed faith in me, at the same time I enjoyed batting with Shikhar (Dhawan). He made me more comfortable, at the other end he was just telling me to look to enjoy and express. That’s what we did in the first six overs. T20 cricket is a lot about the first six overs. You can put a lot of bowlers in the backfoot easily if you have wickets in hand.”

Now after a decent run in the T20Is, and with India facing middle-order batting woes in white-ball cricket, Raina was confident he will be back in the mix for ODIs soon ahead of the 2019 World Cup.

“(This series was) very important for me. From here, we’re going to play in Sri Lanka and then IPL,” he explained. “We have a lot of matches coming up. I was part of the World Cup 2011 and in my first World Cup, I got the trophy in my house. That’s an unbelievable feeling. Coming back to the one-day squad, I’ve done well at the No. 5 spot. It’s just a matter of couple more games and I can ensure that I will be there very soon.”

More credit than debit, but India far from finished product

More credit than debit, but India far from finished product

India’s overwhelming dominance in the One-Day International series was fashioned primarily by two things – the top-order batting led by Virat Kohli, and the spin bowling of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal. While Kohli was spectacular, and Shikhar Dhawan easily the second best batsman on either side, Rohit Sharma also made a vital century when needed most. But while the top-order guns were blazing, the middle order has left India with problems to ponder as they fine-tune preparations for the 2019 World Cup. On the other hand, the wrist-spin duo has added immeasurably to the team’s arsenal.

In taking stock of the win, the credit ledger far outweighs the debit side, but while the team must enjoy its great show to the hilt, the quiet backroom planning will have already started for what needs course-correction as India aim to get as close to perfect as possible for the World Cup.

In the middle order, Hardik Pandya batted at No. 5, with MS Dhoni coming in at No. 6. Kedar Jadhav was slated to come in at No. 7 in the first ODI. In the second, India won by nine wickets, so no one from Ajinkya Rahane downwards had to bat.

The same batting order was followed in the third ODI, with Jadhav getting to the middle this time. With the Maharashtra batsman injured after that and Shreyas Iyer playing the next three games, the order changed again. In the fourth ODI, it was Iyer, Dhoni, Pandya. In the fifth it was Iyer, Pandya, Dhoni. The sixth game was decided by Kohli’s brilliance in the chase once again, meaning no one below Rahane batted.

Before the start of the ODI series, the No. 4 spot was looked at as something of a problem child. However, once Kohli hinted strongly that Rahane would be given a run at that position, it seemed like there would be a settled batting order. The shuffling, instead, has shifted lower down.

R Sridhar, India’s fielding coach, explained that it was part of the team’s plan to build finishers, and that the state of the game too dictated who would come out at which spot.

“The whole endeavour is for two things,” said Sridhar. “One: look at the state of the game and see which player can be the best at that particular situation. And two: to give our other batsmen, apart from obviously MS, a chance to go there and take the responsibility and take the game till the end. We want more finishers, we want to train and groom more finishers. At the same time, we also want our Nos. 5, 6, 7 to be able to go in and learn the situation and adapt to it. That is why you see the rotation, but very soon I think we’ll be settling into fixed Nos. 5, 6, 7 as we get closer to the World Cup.”

Given the dynamics that T20 cricket has introduced, a flexible lower middle order can actually be eminently sound strategy. For example, if the third wicket falls in the 42nd over, you would want a Pandya to come out even if you have Iyer/Jadhav or Dhoni in the hut. With eight overs left, you want the man who can hit big the most consistently, and who will take the least time to get going. Despite his meagre returns in the ODI series, Pandya is that man for India.

What goes unsaid is the question of whether Dhoni is still the man for India. Behind the stumps, surely in the change-room, and in general, the aura and presence of Dhoni is inspiring. His constant stream of advice and tips, particularly to Chahal and Kuldeep, has become the stuff of internet virality. But with the bat, Dhoni has seemed a shadow of his former self.

He already has 9967 runs in the 50-over format, and when he’s done, he’ll probably be competing with Adam Gilchrist for a spot in the all-time XI for when Earth plays inter-Galactic series. But is he the man India can afford to take to the 2019 World Cup? That is a question for the team management to ponder with urgency because if a change has to be made, it must be soon so that the new ‘keeper has some matches under his belt before the big event.

Perhaps the niggling issues with the middle order is what Kohli was referring to when he said after the series win, “We certainly feel really good as a team. But there are always areas,” Kohli said. “Even when we win, we sit down, because no one has a perfect game throughout. Even as a batsman, you know that some balls you were not in good position so you want to correct that in the next game. As a team as well, you always make mistakes even when you win, but the thing is you capitalise on it and correct those mistakes very soon during the course of the games. We will definitely sit down as a team and figure out the areas that need improvement. I’m not denying that there are no areas that need strengthening.

“We don’t want to live in a dreamland where we just don’t accept our mistakes. We know as a team we need to improve on certain things. We’ve identified those things, it’s up to us to discuss and improve on those things going forward and solidifying those areas for ourselves. I don’t want to disclose it (the areas for improvement). I don’t want to speak about it publicly. It’s a very personal thing about the team and I don’t want to say it in a press conference.”

On the other hand, the emergence of a viable striking option in the middle overs has given India’s attack the teeth it lacked earlier. “I think even in my last stint, Virat and me have always discussed that we need wickets in the middle overs,” said Ravi Shastri, the head coach. “You know we’ve got to somehow be able to attack and find ways of breaking partnerships and not allowing the game to drift. So that was the idea. And then identifying the right kind of people to do the job. Luckily for us, Kuldeep and Chahal have complemented each other beautifully. They bring great variety – it’s great for the viewer, it’s great for the spectator to see that kind of variety when they come to watch a cricket match. Not just batting or fielding, but some classic spin bowling.”

Bhuvneshwar Kumar, despite middling returns in this series, and Jasprit Bumrah have proven to be among the most reliable pace-bowling pairs in white-ball cricket, and with the wrist-spin twins now in the mix, India have an attack that can be a threat at multiple stages of a match. It’s a luxury most teams don’t have. When combined with the way the top order of Dhawan, Rohit and Kohli have been on fire, you can understand why India are a formidable unit in the 50-overs game, notwithstanding the middle-order niggle.

And that they put it across South Africa so comprehensively despite the regular stutters after a couple of wickets had fallen shows just how deep the top three batted which minimised the effects of any wobble, and how well the bowlers combined to make even par totals seem herculean.

“We have learnt some good habits on this trip,” said Shastri. “This is a young side, they have got a lot of tough tours coming up and I think they have conducted themselves and handled themselves extremely well on this tour. One thing history tells me, I have been coming here since 1992, there is not one South African side in the world that anyone can say is a weak side. You just look at their bilateral record and they are one of the great sides in bilateral cricket. I have followed this game for a long time. I have been a broadcaster as well and covered a lot of South Africa games and I know how they play. So I would like my boys to enjoy every bit of this series win. Whatever the scoreline is, they must enjoy because it doesn’t happen every day.”

India are already a frighteningly good one-day side, particularly when Kohli and the top order get going, which is almost in every match. If Pandya’s development as a bowler continues, they will have most bases covered with bowling too. As Kohli said, it’s not possible to be perfect throughout, but if they get their middle order sorted, India will come closer to it than any other side in world cricket.

AB de Villiers, changing the cricket language at Affies

AB de Villiers, changing the cricket language at Affies

“AB de Villiers was so talented, you could give him anything and he’d play with it” – Deon Botes. © Getty Images

The bats that AB de Villiers uses to drive bowlers to tears in international cricket is a few milligrams lighter than the one he used earlier. A replica is available for sale at the Titans shop at the SuperSport Park in Centurion, the home of the franchise. If you have enough money (a journalist’s salary allows you to gawk at it and touch it, not buy it), you can stride out to the middle of your next club, or college, or terrace cricket match with the same instrument used by de Villiers.

Ironically enough for the man himself, he’s not really particular about which piece of wood he needs to stride out and begin the job of making bowlers question their career choices.

“I think every batsman wants his bats to feel good, feel like it belongs,” he said during South Africa’s One-Day International series against India. “But I am not too worried about grams or shapes. It’s just got to feel well and feel good when I pick it up.”

So could he, for example, pick up a bat at random when he’s walking out and score a century with it? “Definitely, yeah. If it feels good. It’s all about the feel.”

Several things have changed for AB de Villiers, the cricketer and human being, since his school days, but there is one characteristic that remains. Deon Botes, the man who was de Villiers’s coach during his formative years at the Afrikaans Hoer Seunskool, popularly called Affies, in Pretoria, which is 20 minutes away from Centurion, remembers de Villiers as an outrageously talented schoolboy, but also a batsman who could decimate bowlers with any bat.

“He never cared about things like the bat’s weight and shape,” Botes told Wisden India. “He was so talented, you could give him anything and he’d play with it. I remember I got angry with him for the rugby because it would at times clash with our cricket pre-season. I would tell him to get to the nets, but he would come there late after rugby practice. And he would ask me ‘What do you want me to work on?’ And I would say the on-drive, so he would just hit the drive and say, ‘Was that okay?’ And it was fine. So basically we just wasted his time with this winter training we had. Other guys would struggle to execute some shots. For him, it was an explanation and then he just did it.”

At Affies, AB de Villiers came through the ranks alongside Faf du Plessis, and the two showed characteristics that come to define their play even today. © Wisden India

De Villiers is 34 today, and though he’s been part of a humbling 5-1 series defeat against India, his status as one of world cricket’s most devastating, watchable and talented geniuses is undisputed.

At Affies, de Villiers came through the ranks alongside Faf du Plessis, and the two showed characteristics that come to define their play even today. “Who was more talented? Well I hope Faf doesn’t see this, but I think AB was the more talented player,” chuckles Botes. “Faf was always the guy who just grinded it out and tried to bat through and anchor the innings. You could always trust Faf to bat through. AB walked in and scored a 90 or 100 in the first 15 overs and basically kill the game from there. He had a lot of natural talent.

“I know that Faf was probably the only schoolboy who we could walk up to and say, ‘Listen Faf, your wicket is the game. If you bat through we will win and if you don’t we are in trouble.’ I think he was the only cricketer who coped with that kind of pressure. He could take it,” adds Botes. “AB was more a guy who would walk in and just play and instinctively just destroy bowling line-ups. I don’t know if he ever felt pressure! If you watch them now as well, Faf had to bat through against Australia on debut and he could do that. He’s a very good pressure player.”

While they quickly became stars at their school, they were less disciplined outside the cricket field.

“As cricketers, they were quite special. People don’t know that Faf was a South Africa Under-19 legspinner,” recalls Botes. “They were quite naughty. I always remember Faf sitting in class without his school shoes! He was not a great student to be honest. AB was quite a good student to have. He just enjoyed his mates in the class. But I still think AB still feels to the day he should have done better with his school work.

“But they did their naughty things. When I started, Denis Lindsay, the former South Africa batsman, was the cricket pro at the school so he helped me with the side. AB and Faf basically always liked to fool around before practice. When they had to warm-up they would fool around and Lindsay chased them away in no uncertain words! When they saw the back nets was still open they wanted to go practice there on their own. And Lindsay chased them away their again, back to the boarding establishment.

“I don’t know what I contributed to their cricket but they were quite naughty in the classrooms.” © AFP

“I coached them for four years. I don’t know what I contributed to their cricket but they were quite naughty in the classrooms, so I had a lot of work trying to just manage them there, and get their disciplines right. That’s why I’m grey at the moment,” adds Botes with eyes twinkling.

Botes says that when de Villiers was growing up, the coaching regimen was very conservative. A reverse sweep would have earned stern rebuke. Lapping a fast bowler while down on one knee was not even in the realm of imagination.

“The 360-degree game that he has now was not honed at school. It’s a pity to say, but no, it wasn’t,” laughs Botes. “We did do the sweep, but the lap sweeps, the reverse sweeps that only came later. Probably because of the T20 format.

“AB batted at No.4 for the school but when he made the Colts side at age 16 (an Under-18 side picked across schools) he opened the batting there. So when he came back he said he wanted to open the batting here. All the shots he’s playing these days in IPL, we didn’t coach that. We were still very conservative so he was playing normal cricket, but he was still an opener. He batted for 15 overs and still scored 90, so it just gives you an idea of the talent he had.”

Botes began his career at Affies alongside de Villiers and du Plessis. He joined as coach in 1998 when they joined as students in the eighth grade. The next year, he was promoted to coaching the school’s first cricket team and one of his first acts was to promote the two talented young men to the first XI, which was captained by Jacques Rudolph. Neil Wagner, who now plays for New Zealand, would also go on to be part of the side later.

But de Villiers was the undoubted star. “A game I will never forget is when we played Durban High School,” says Botes, going back almost two decades in time. “They had Hashim Amla at No.3 and they had Imran Khan, who also played for South Africa. That morning we bowled them out for 140 with the ball doing a bit. Amla made 73 in that game. When we went in to bat, the ball turned and Imran was quite a handful. We lost our first two wickets quickly and Faf and AB came together.

Deon Botes joined Affies as coach in 1998. © Wisden India

“Imran was giving Faf a hard time turning it back in. When we walked off for tea, AB just said, ‘You know what, just tell Faf he should get me on strike for Imran Khan.’ So I went to Faf and told him he was struggling a bit against Imran and he said yes, he doesn’t have any options against him. I told him to give the strike to AB. So when we got back on the field Faf took a single. And then AB just went down the track and hit Imran over extra cover for four and then he slog-swept him for six. That changed the game, because it’s very difficult for an offspinner to come back from that. If AB batted for 15 overs in high school cricket, we won the game.”

While Botes insists that he hasn’t had to do much with ‘coaching’ a talent like de Villiers, he does reveal that the younger version had a problem with the pull shot. “There was one time he struggled with the pull shot, he had a bit of a grip issue,” recounts Botes. “His top hand was just too far towards himself, so when he pulled the bat closed too quickly. If it does that, then if you mistime it you get a top edge. We just changed the angle of his hand while gripping the bat. Firstly he didn’t want to change it. I remember telling him he would probably have a couple of dismissals on the pull. I think after about the third dismissal, he came to me and said, ‘Alright, let’s change the grip’. So we changed it, and obviously I think he pulls well enough these days!”

Botes is now the Director of Sport at Affies, and cricket of course falls within his ambit. Affies remains one of the best school cricket sides, but one thing has changed since the time de Villiers was learning his craft. If a student wants to try out a lap shot or a reverse sweep, they are not going to get a tongue lashing anymore.

“We do practice them during the season. And the paddles,” smiles Botes. “The game has evolved and we have to evolve with it. Of course, they look up to AB and want to play like him.”

While there may not emerge another AB de Villiers from Affies, his deeds have given every child who comes there an automatic attraction towards cricket. At 34 years old, that is perhaps as valuable a legacy as 8338 runs in Tests and 9577 runs in ODIs.

The Hitman cometh, even if belatedly

The Hitman cometh, even if belatedly

Off the first 15 balls Rohit Sharma faced at St George’s Park on Tuesday (February 13), he had only one run. You would think a batsman walking into this match with only 40 runs in four preceding One-Day Internationals, and 118 runs in eight innings on tour overall, would start to feel the pressure. In his next three balls, Rohit languidly cut Morne Morkel to the point fence, and then stepped down the track to Kagiso Rabada to make one of the signature ‘clean Rohit connections’, the one where you know the ball will be sailing over the boundary – any boundary in the world – as soon as it has left his bat.

When it comes to Rohit, the pressure might be felt more by those watching and over-thinking on his behalf. For the man himself, what has happened in the past is in the past. After that, it’s the next match, the next over, the next ball. And in the fifth ODI of the series against South Africa, Rohit broke a mini-hoodoo with 115 off 126 balls, starring in India’s 274 for 7 and eventual 73-run win. It put India up 4-1 and sealed a historic first-ever bilateral triumph against South Africa away.

At the end of it all, the centurion could share a joke, or several, with the assembled press corps. “I got out in three [four] matches only mere bhai, how can you say form is bad after three matches? You guys put people in good form after one match, and if somebody doesn’t have three good matches, you say he is in bad form,” laughed Rohit.

When it was clarified that the questioner meant Rohit had broken a hoodoo specific to South Africa – a Test average of 15.37 stretching back to 2013-14 and an ODI average of 11.45 since 2007 – Rohit countered with a smile again. “Nahin yaar, 2013 was different. I had just turned into an opener from a middle-order batsman. The way I am batting now, it has evolved a lot. Whatever happened before 2013 and in 2013, forget about that. Ask me about what has happened since then,” he said, drawing a fresh round of laughter. “I admit the first four matches weren’t great but that happens. It happens with everybody. But I was in a good frame of mind, I was batting well in the nets, there was no pattern to my dismissals. That happens in every cricketer’s career. I knew I had to stay in a good frame of mind. And we won the series after today’s knock, so there is nothing better than that for me.”

That Rohit hadn’t looked out of sorts is a fact. And though he fell thrice to Rabada in the four ODIs (and thrice in the Tests too), he was right in there being no pattern to his dismissals. In Durban, he was looking good but top-edged an intended pull off Morkel with the ball getting slightly big on him. In Centurion, he had already hit a six and two fours when he hooked Rabada to fine-leg. In Cape Town, he faced down a terrific first over from Rabada in which the last ball took his inside edge even as he tried to withdraw his bat. And in Johannesburg, he jammed one back for Rabada to time a dive to perfection.

What Rohit knew was that he wasn’t far away from a big score. How he knew it is perhaps part confidence, part athletic sixth sense, part conviction that if he was feeling good and batting well in practice, it had to translate into runs on the field sooner than later.

“In our dressing room, we are always talking how we are batting and how we are playing the ball. Scores sometimes don’t reflect that at times, sometimes they do, but that doesn’t mean that suddenly you have become a bad player,” he reflected. “Because you have achieved so much, scored so many runs, two or three bad innings doesn’t change that. This is not just for me, but for all batsmen in the team, because such a situation does come that you are trying your hardest but things don’t come off. So at that point it is important that you relax and take a step back and think about what you need to do in the next game.

“Every day is a new day and what you have done in the past will really not matter. It is the same thing I am thinking right now. My hundred has gone now and the next game I play, the hundred I scored isn’t going to matter much. So it is important to stay in the present. Our staff and experienced players are always talking about this and what our mindset is. Sometimes you see a player and think his mindset is not good, but you have to follow your routines and if you trust your routines, you won’t have to wait too long for results. Like I did, and I knew that a big score is coming and I just have to be in that zone, not get completely bogged down and start worrying about my batting.”

Rohit may want to get in his zone, but all things Rohit are newsworthy. He made headlines when he was picked for the first two Tests above Ajinkya Rahane. He made news when he was subsequently dropped. He regularly grabs space for his limited-overs feats, and equally when he doesn’t score.

“Every day is a new day and what you have done in the past will really not matter. It is the same thing I am thinking right now. My hundred has gone now and the next game I play, the hundred I scored isn’t going to matter much. So it is important to stay in the present. Our staff and experienced players are always talking about this and what our mindset is. Sometimes you see a player and think his mindset is not good, but you have to follow your routines and if you trust your routines, you won’t have to wait too long for results. Like I did, and I knew that a big score is coming and I just have to be in that zone, not get completely bogged down and start worrying about my batting.”

“I feel privileged if people are talking about me,” Rohit cheekily said, inducing a fresh round of titters. “People want to talk about me, they can talk about me!

“But to be honest, what goes in my head is completely opposite,” he added. “I am here to do something special for the team. Whenever I get an opportunity to play, I always see it as a chance to do something special for my country today. As a youngster you worry about all those things, but I have passed that age now to keep worrying about what’s going on outside the field, or what people want to talk, or what people don’t want to talk. As long as you are playing the sport, good things and bad things will happen. When you are doing good things, people will talk. When you are doing bad things, people will still talk. I have managed that really well in the past few years because when you are having a good time, you should be aware that there will be a bad time as well. That’s how sportsmen’s careers go. I am pretty much in that space right now.”

The space and bubble that he creates is what perhaps allows Rohit to shrug off past failures more quickly than others could. It might have also helped him during his century, over the course of which both Virat Kohli and Rahane were run out. It wasn’t entirely Rohit’s fault in either dismissal, but he could have shown more alacrity in refusing risky singles earlier too. But with both men run out, the responsibility on Rohit to make a big score increased. When he did reach his hundred, the celebrations were subdued.

With the match and series won, there was nothing subdued in Rohit’s explanation. “Celebration… yaar two guys got run out before me earlier, so I couldn’t celebrate,” he said, leading a fresh round of laughter. “I was not in a mood to celebrate. But I knew that if we could get 270-280, it will be difficult for them because we knew the pitch is very slow and anything could happen as our wrist-spinners are bowling very well and they have troubled their batsmen a lot.

“Celebration, it depends on what kind of mood you are in. Two of our main batsmen got run out, so I wanted to carry on and the celebration was not in my mind at all. I just wanted to keep batting as long as possible and get the team to a decent target. We realised at one point after 20-25 overs that it’s not a 300 track because it was getting slower and slower and shot-making wasn’t easy. I knew when I was batting at 100 that I have to carry on but unfortunately got out at the wrong time. At the end I still felt 270-odd was a par score, definitely not a winning score but a par score.”

The celebrations that were held back in reserve were given full expression once the series was sealed. The vice-captain’s bonhomie post-match was evidence enough of that.