Cuttack: These are exciting times for Indian cricket.
A clutch of fearless, new-age players, most of them discovered in the IPL, are now expressing themselves on the international stage and pushing non-performing megastars hard.
Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma, Harshit Rana – they are all ready for their next act, at the Barabati Stadium here on Sunday, when India will look to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the ODI series versus England.
Add the likes of Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya and Kuldeep Yadav, and you have the crux of a team that has the potential to serve the country over the next decade.
Standing out uncomfortably and struggling to fit into the playing XI are veterans like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
Skipper Rohit failed to register a double-digit score once again — 11th time in his last 17 innings — in the first ODI at Nagpur two days ago, while Kohli didn’t play because of a niggle on his knee.
Both of them had a horrendous run in the five-Test series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia. So much so that Rohit opted out of the playing XI for the final Test, while Kohli got out in similar fashion every time – caught off the edge behind the wicket – after scoring a hundred in the opening Test.
Rohit was irked by questions on his future three days ago, ahead of the Nagpur ODI. But there is no denying the fact that he and Kohli will be under a lot of pressure in the remaining two ODIs against England, which will be followed by the ICC Champions Trophy.
Besides a six-hitting exhibition from young guns like Abhishek and Yashasvi, the capacity crowd at Barabati Stadium will be hoping for a vintage show from Rohit and Kohli, who is fit for selection and, ironically, may replace an in-form Iyer who scored a sparkling half-century in Nagpur.
The golden oldies – Rohit is 37 and Virat 36 – no longer play T20 Internationals. Cuttack is not one of BCCI’s Test venues at present, and the next time Barabati’s turn comes to host another international game may not be before 2027-28.
Hence, Sunday’s ODI could well be the last time that Cuttack and Odisha get to see these two Indian batting greats in flesh and blood.
Rohit has scored two half-centuries in four international games he has played in Cuttack, while Kohli has mostly underperformed at the Barabati, including in that infamous T20 International against South Africa in October 2015, when a misbehaving crowd gave the venue a bad name. Both batters were run out – Rohit for 22 and Kohli first ball he faced – as India nosedived to 92 all out.
Kohli’s best at this venue has been an 85 in the December 2019 ODI against the West Indies, when Rohit made 63 to help India chase down a stiff 316-run target with 4 wickets and 10 balls to spare.
How cricket’s romantics and purists at the Barabati will love to witness a ‘final flourish’ from the golden duo before they bow out sooner than later!
