Both on and off the field, Rohit Sharma, the captain of India, strikes me as a peaceful and collected individual. A select few, like the late great Ricky Ponting, have even adopted the term “laidback” to characterize his playing style. Another common misconception about Rohit is that, according to former India captain Virat Kohli, he often forgets things. On Sunday, however, Indian umpire Anil Chaudhury refuted the ‘lazy, casual’ hypothesis of Rohit.
Speaking on the YouTube podcast “Unplugged,” officiating expert Chaudhury—who has officiated more than 50 international matches—warned host Shubhankar Mishra not to create an inaccurate impression of Rohit based on rumors that have been circulating in the public, particularly on social media. He clarified that despite the 37-year-old’s seeming “casual” demeanor, he is actually a “smart cricketer” with a high “cricketing IQ” who makes batting appear effortless.
“Rohit is a really clever player, but he’s also somewhat casual. This too is not a bad thing. He is incredibly intelligent. Cricketing IQ bahut achha hai uska, which translates as “game ki samajh” (don’t be misled by Rohit’s seemingly carefree demeanor; he’s a very intelligent player with excellent game sense).
Aata aapko nahi aata batting se concept nahi. When batting, a ball travels at a speed of 120 kmph every delivery. When a batsman bats first, he is hit 160 times before he bowls.So, basically, an appeal is something that you either get or you don’t get. You can’t tell his bright thinking from his batting, woh lagta casual hai par casual bilkul nahi hai woh. It appears as though someone is bowling at 120 kmph while he is batting, but it appears to be 160 kmph when someone else is batting. He engages in numerous appeals before deciding to “let it be.” Though he may come across as carefree, he is everything but).
It is much less confusing, according to Chaudhury, to umpire against a player like Rohit, who is not as restless at the crease. “Player ke liye umpiring karna bada simple hai, Rohit. Both to be out and not to be out hot. Uska kaam hai seedha seedha kaam. Hi nahi hai wo guchur guchur khelta hi. Yeah, it’s not out yet, but wow. It’s really easy for me to umpire as a player from Aise. To woh saaf out hoga ya saaf not out hoga (umpiring is very easy for a guy like Rohit; he’s either out or not out, it’s really simple with him). Usko dekhna aap. He doesn’t play incoherently),” he continued.
Recalling Rohit Sharma’s historic 264, Anil Chaudhury
In support of his argument, Chaudhury mentioned Rohit’s famous 264-run innings against Sri Lanka in the 2013 Eden Gardens ODI, which stands as the best individual score in the history of the format. At the time, the former was the TV umpire. The India opener, according to him, was even hitting the yorkers for sixes.
“Main ek umpire tha TV match.” He received more than 200. Jo balls chhakke maar raha tha, uspe wo chhakke yorker thi. Kolkata mei match tha, I think. We are in a different class. It’s not a bad idea, although it’s a bit lazy. Usko, swing ka concept hai [In one match, I officiated on TV. He received a score of 200 or above. He was hitting balls for sixes that were yorkers for other people. The game was, I believe, in Kolkata. He attends a separate class. Despite his seeming laziness, he is very intelligent. He is aware of swing),” he remarked.
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