‘Rohit’s wicket changed match’

By P.L. Aravind

Bangalore, May 3: He couldn’t have chosen a better platform to showcase his batting prowess. From being one of the youngest members in the Indian team, Rohit Sharma has cemented his place as the backbone of the star-studded Deccan Chargers’ batting line-up.

On Saturday, after going down narrowly by three runs to the Royal Challengers, Chargers’ skipper V.V.S. Laxman said Sharma’s dismissal was the turning point of the match.

"The wicket of Rohit proved to be the turning point. It was a big wicket to fall, he was well set," said Laxman.

The stylish right-hander was full of praise for Sharma.

"He is very talented and there is no doubt about his abilities. He understands the situation very well and plays accordingly. He also has an array of shots and makes the most of them," he said on Sharma, who fell after making a superb 57.

The Chargers’ have lost three tight games, and Laxman said, "We have lost three closely contested matches and had we won those, the story would have been different.

We lost the match from the 16th over and as the match progressed we lost too many wickets," the Chargers’ skipper, who scored an impressive 52 himself, said.

Laxman however, declined to accept that they had been complacent while chasing down the small total of 156. "We were not complacent. After bowling and fielding well we were looking to finish off the match, but we failed to do it," he said.

Despite starting as one of the favourites for the inaugural IPL title, things haven’t gone as planned for the Chargers.

"It is not good enough if we are good on paper, we should be playing to our potential. Today we did that but the Royal Challengers played well too."

Meanwhile on the personal front, it has been a good tournament so far for Laxman.

"I have opened the innings and in the past four matches I have scored runs and that too at a good strike rate," he said.

Having said that, the Hyderabadi will be quite happy to forsake personal form for that much-needed victory.