(BCCI Credit)
Former Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa recently praised Rohit Sharma’s remarkable 264-run innings against Sri Lanka in 2014. Uthappa commended Sharma for his outstanding performance, highlighting how despite exhaustion, Sharma continued to display his extraordinary batting skills.
Returning from injury, Rohit Sharma, opening the innings, initially took his time to settle in, surprising everyone with a sensational performance. Once he found his rhythm, the boundaries started flowing freely as he unleashed his aggressive best.
Sharma marked his second double-century with a relentless onslaught that didn’t cease even after reaching the milestone. His monumental innings of 264 runs off just 173 balls boasted a staggering strike rate of over 151, comprising 33 boundaries and 9 towering sixes, steering India to a formidable total of 404 runs.
Reflecting on Sharma’s innings, Robin Uthappa, who contributed an unbeaten 16 runs and shared a crucial 128-run partnership with him, acknowledged Sharma’s fatigue but emphasized their shared determination in building their partnership. Uthappa particularly praised Sharma’s stunning shot-making, highlighting a memorable strike against Nuwan Kulasekara.
“So it was a very hot Kolkata afternoon. So when I got to bat, 40 overs gone, 41 overs gone. Rohit was dog-tired. He could see it, right? I could see it in his face. And I said to Rohit, just conserve energy and go help a leather man. And that’s what we did. I just spread in the strike. And if I got strike on the last ball of the over, I tried to get a 4 or a 6.
“But besides that, that’s when I saw my opportunity to score runs. But yeah, my job was to just kind of feed him strike and let him do his magic. And magic was what he created that day, man. I remember he played a shot to Kulasekara, a wide yorker. And he just kind of stood where he was on middle stump. And he flicked it with his wrists, converted into a full toss. Flicked it with his wrists and went over long on for 6,” Robin Uthappa said on Cricket.com’s Youtube channel.
I was standing there dumbfounded – Robin Uthappa on Rohit Sharma’s innings
Robin Uthappa expressed his astonishment at Rohit Sharma’s shot-making prowess, emphasizing how the Indian batsman left him speechless with his array of strokes. Continuing to extol Sharma’s batting prowess, Uthappa elaborated:
“And I was standing there dumbfounded. I was like, oh my god, what am I witnessing here? And it was truly magical. I was going gaga about it for well into the night. And he actually, I think after a point, felt awkward. I was like, dude, enough, man. I think there’s a certain amount of magic that lies within that. And to kind of discover that magic is where the fun is.
“And there are teams that try hard to create that magic. And then there are guys, there are teams that just let it all be. And then the magic just happens,” he concluded.
