India vs Pakistan: Rohit Sharma not leaving any stone unturned to turn the heat on Shaheen Shah Afridi

Those who kw Rohit Sharma well would vouch for fact that Indian captain doesn't get amused when he hears term "lazy elegance" liberally thrown at him during formal and informal conversations.

Rohit Sharma is supremely elegant but word "lazy" hasn’t existed in his dictionary for longest possible time w.

Out of his 41 international hundreds, 33 has come in ODIs and T20Is and it wouldn’t have been possible h re been an iota of laziness in him.

Forty-eight hours before marquee clash against Pakistan, it seemed Rohit, skipper at least on day, me way for Rohit, batter, who is thinking of how to counter menacing pace and swing of Shaheen Shah Afridi.

Maybe that’s reason, he was trying to focus on t hitting any horizontal bat shots, which is a recipe for disaster against someone like Shaheen, who will t only bowl fast but also swing it late at a brisk pace.

Melbourne Cricket Ground nets are slightly different from or stiums where one can only get a top-angle view of nets and it always seems like players are training at a giant wall.

It was an optional net session for Indian team on Friday and it was skipper, who became centre of attention for 30-odd spectators as he entered arena.

Rohit went through grind for close to one and half hours along with Dinesh Karthik for company.

While Karthik, India’s designated white-ball finisher, after a rmal net session, did a bit of simulation training with some high-risk lap scoop and reverse lap scoop shots and pull-shots, Rohit’s session was way more interesting.

It seemed he was intent on playing within ‘V’ and while Karthik enjoyed hitting some disdainful pulls, his captain, who is a pioneer of horizontal bat shots, refrained from hitting any.

He defended, left deliveries, played front-foot and back-foot push drives with elan.

way he kept shape while lunging forward for cover drives was sheer beauty.

And in between, he used his peripheral vision to keep an eye on what Karthik and reserve batter Deepak Hooda were up to on jacent nets.

Watching Rohit bat, one would instantly remember popular YouTube interview show ‘Breakfast With Champions’ where host asks Kohli, “Doesn’t Rohit give you feeling that he has that extra second to play those shots?" “Ek nahi, der second (t one but one and half second),” was Kohli’s quickest response which showed erstwhile skipper’s reverence for his deputy.

Even when he left a few deliveries alone in between his shots, it never looked boring.

Batting isn’t exactly Rohit Sharma’s vocation. It is his passion. T20 might be a slam-bang version but ingredient needed to be successful is discipline of a marathon runner.

Once his session was over, he continued watching Karthik and later Axar Patel bat at nets while having a conversation with he coach Rahul Dravid.

But if one thought that skipper was done for morning, y were mistaken.

Having taken a break for some time, Rohit was back in nets and this time facing sharp left-arm throwdown of Sri Lankan specialist Nuwan Seneviratne.

Nuwan was seen muscling throwdowns at a high speed and angled it in from 18 yards and Rohit was equal to task each time.

t for once did he look wary or hurried into his shot. re was trigger but t an early commitment into stroke.

In cricket, as in life, re are guarantees, and hence how well things will pan out against Pakistan can’t be predicted.

But one thing can be said with a degree of certainty that Rohit Sharma is t leaving any stone unturned to turn heat on Shaheen Shah Afridi.