Hitman the Batman: Whether batting or leading India, Rohit is an artist at work

Rohit Sharma does not realise the full extent of it, but he has a deeply expressive face. Rohit tries, at all times, to stay calm and remain on an even keel, but his eyes unfailingly give away what’s buzzing in that brain and what is tugging at his heart.

You saw a clear demonstration of this earlier in the Champions Trophy when Kuldeep Yadav failed to gather a throw from Virat Kohli. Rohit, who was backing up, let the bowler have a spontaneous spray. Just what are you thinking? Or are you thinking at all? Those seemed the questions.

When he meets the ball with the full face of his broad bat and it makes exactly the right sound, Rohit almost freezes. He holds his shape, watching the ball do as he has commanded, piercing the field or clearing it and racing to the boundary. If you commissioned a sculptor to make a statue that used still life to show the poetry in motion of batting, this would be it. And there are times when even Rohit can’t help but stop and admire what he has just done.

When India won the Champions Trophy, Rohit’s emotions traversed a range. There was the euphoria of having got the better of a worthy opponent, the excitement of having been on a journey with his team and the satisfaction of achieving something that he could share with his family.

But, more than anything else, there was relief. It’s not easy carrying the burden of expectations day-in and dayout in the public eye. India have won 22 of the last 23 completed matches they have pl aye d i n I nt er n at ion a l Cricket Council