AS ANGELO Mathews rolled back the years to record his third ODI century there was just a feeling that India might be heading into the semifinals of the World Cup on the back of a second loss in three games.
After all, this has not been a World Cup for chasers and, prior to this game, only Bangladesh had managed to hunt down a score in excess of 250.
Conventional wisdom dictated that you win the toss and bat. Dimuth Karunaratne did just that at Headingley as Sri Lanka made 264-7. India captain Virat Kohli admitted he would have done the same.
Of course conventional wisdom does not apply when you have Rohit Sharma in your ranks.
A sixth World Cup century moved him level with Sachin Tendulkar as the most prolific in the tournament’s history.
The Little Master did it in 44 innings, Rohit has done it in 16.
Rohit does not inspire the sheer helplessness in bowlers of his skipper, nor possess the grim inevitability of Kane Williamson.
What he does, however, is bat with an elegance few who have played the game have ever matched.
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