New Delhi, Nov 30 (IANS) Former India cricketer Atul Wassan heaped praise on Rohit Sharma after the former India captain produced a fluent 57 off 51 balls in the first ODI against South Africa in Ranchi on Sunday. Rohit’s knock, marked by authority and clean ball striking, also saw him eclipse Shahid Afridi to become the player with the most sixes in ODI cricket, taking his tally to 352.

Rohit walked into the series on the back of a half-century and a century against Australia last month, and he carried that form into Ranchi, giving India a solid start after being put in to bat. His milestone-setting innings added yet another chapter to a career defined by timing, composure, and big-match temperament.

Wassan lauded Rohit’s natural ability and insisted that his batting gifts are incomparable. He said that Rohit’s talent is God given, and something that comes naturally to him; no coach can teach this. Expanding on Rohit’s six-hitting milestone, Wassan highlighted the context behind the achievement and the value it brings to the Indian team.

“Rohit has created a benchmark with his record of sixes. People might say that the record is because he hits a lot of sixes today. But if you look at the context, as an opener, what was Afridi? A slogger. It was his USP. He used to hit 2-3 sixes even if he scored 30-odd runs. But as an opener, you’ve taken 100 innings less than him to achieve the record,” Wassan said, speaking exclusively to IANS.

“If your opener has the potency to hit big shots, just imagine what it means for your team’s strike rate. Whenever there’s trouble, he can hit big. If you have that kind of talent, something no one else in the world has, Rohit has shown how, with his lazy elegance and timing, you can hit sixes. And this six-hitting record isn’t just a number; this talent has won the team many matches. This matrix shows how crucial he has been, how he has delivered when needed, how he has played the big innings and given the team a leap, helping them out of pressure situations,” he added.

Wassan added that Rohit continues to establish himself as a match-winner even without relying on frequent centuries and emphasised that players like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are driven not by personal milestones but by team impact. He also said that players like Kohli and Rohit are geniuses of the game and achieve such landmarks subconsciously while doing big things for the team.

“He’s proving to be a match-winner again. He already was, but he’s just proving it again. He doesn’t hit 100s like before, but if you look at how he’s done since 2022, he’s probably third or fourth. He’s set himself a very high standard. I also feel there’s too much fixation in cricket about getting to the three-figure mark. A player is ranked based on how well and frequently he scores hundreds. There are many players who score 70–80 runs, and if those 80 runs contribute to a team’s win, then they are better than a hundred. But because hundreds are glamorous, the optics in cricket make it seem otherwise,” he added.

The former cricketer further compared Rohit’s instincts to those of some of the game’s greatest batters.

“But look, this is God-given. Like a homing pigeon, it just knows the way back. Some players have that knack naturally. Talk about Tendulkar, Gavaskar, Kallis, or Virat, a hundred is a milestone they don’t even have to think about. They know once they reach 30–40, what they need to do next. It’s not that they are playing selfishly for the hundred. They’re such geniuses that while they’re heading toward a century almost subconsciously, they are also aware of the team’s needs and calibrate their game accordingly. Coaches can’t teach this; it’s God-given. But you still need to work hard on things like ball selection, shot selection, and fitness; only then can you achieve all this,” said Wassan.

–IANS

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