On his return to India’s T20I side, Rohit Sharma ticked most boxes, but through no fault of his own not the one that mattered most.

For their last series before the 2024 T20 World Cup in June, India had selected Rohit and Virat Kohli for the first time since the semi-final loss to England at the 2022 T20 World Cup. Kohli was unavailable for Thursday’s match for personal reasons, so all the attention was on Rohit as he led the team against Afghanistan on a freezing evening in Mohali.

Rohit’s first curveball was when Yashasvi Jaiswal had to miss the game with a sore right groin, a day after head coach Rahul Dravid had said the two were India’s first-choice openers. They had to change but they had a more than handy replacement in local boy Shubman Gill.

The first box Rohit ticked was the toss. Before this game, the chasing team had won 26 out of 40 T20s in Mohali since the start of 2022. Given the numbers and the risk of dew in the second innings Rohit had no hesitation in bowling first, and also ended India’s losing streak with the coin, which had extended to 11 matches across formats.

“There is a lot to gain from these three games,” Rohit said at the toss. “We haven’t really had too much T20 cricket leading up to the World Cup. We have got the IPL but an international game is an international game.

“I wasn’t part of the [T20I] side for the entire last year, so I had a chat with Rahul bhai about what we have been doing, which players we are looking at and for what positions. It is important for me to buy into that thinking and understand what we need to do as a group. We look forward to doing everything possible for that while keeping in mind that winning is the most important thing.”

That serious answer was followed by a typical quirky moment. When Murali Kartik asked Rohit about his playing XI, he said: “I will tell you the guys who are missing out: Sanju, Avesh, Yashasvi, and then… one more… Avesh… Sanju… I told you before the toss.”

“Kuldeep, I think,” Kartik replied.

“No, Kuldeep is playing. Oh, yes, Kuldeep,” Rohit said with a laugh.

India went in with only two frontline seamers – Arshdeep Singh and Mukesh Kumar – and three spinners – Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi and Washington Sundar. Allrounder Shivam Dube was their sixth bowling option, while Washington’s selection ensured the batting did not plummet after No. 7. This could be a template they adopt during the World Cup as well.

The harsh weather in Mohali made fielding difficult. A cold wave had gripped the city, forcing the Met department to issue red alert, and the government to shut schools for a week. At the start of Afghanistan’s innings, the temperature was 9°C.

After the match, Rohit said he had not played in colder conditions. In the ninth over, when he caught Ibrahim Zadran at short extra cover, he could not feel his fingers. As the batter was walking off, a member of India’s support staff ran in with a hot water bag for Rohit to warm his hands with.

Three overs later, Azmatullah Omarzai tried to hit one uppishly. Rohit leapt with his right arm at full extension but the ball burst through his fingers. He grimaced, hurt by the missed opportunity and stung by the ball in equal measure perhaps.

India, however, were largely in control and Rohit was smiling soon. Towards the end of Afghanistan’s innings, when Mukesh Kumar bowled a no-ball – a second bouncer in an over – he playfully slapped the bowler on the back of the head. For the 19th over, Rohit brought on Washington. Despite the spinner conceding 13, and Arshdeep 15 in the 20th, India restricted Afghanistan to a below-par 158; the average first-innings total in Mohali in six T20Is before this match was 183.

“We want to try our bowlers in different situations of the game,” Rohit said after the match. “Like you saw, Washy bowled the 19th over today. We want to challenge the bowlers in the areas they are not used to.”

Another box Rohit ticked on his return as T20I captain was the over rate. To regulate the pace of play, the ICC is trialing a new rule: a five-run penalty to be imposed if the bowling team fails three times to start the new over within 60 seconds of the previous one being completed. When India started their 20th over, they were two overs faster than the required rate.

All good so far. But what India actually wanted to see was whether Rohit could carry his explosive form in ODIs to T20 cricket. At the 2023 ODI World Cup, he had given India blazing starts, scoring at a strike rate of 135.01 in the powerplay. Could he adapt further and go a gear higher, as the shortest format demands?

On Thursday, Rohit tamely pushed the first ball of the chase on the off side. On the next delivery, he jumped out of his crease, drilled Fazalhaq Farooqi to the right of mid-off, and took off for a quick single. Gill, however, was ball-watching and by the time he realised what was happening, Rohit was halfway down the pitch. In the meantime, Ibrahim made a diving stop and, after a fumble, threw the ball to the wicketkeeper with both batters at the non-striker’s end. Gill chose not to sacrifice his wicket and Rohit had to walk back for a second-ball duck.

The run had been Rohit’s call as he was heading towards the danger end. And given he had placed the ball to the right of the fielder, the single was on. In fact, by the time Ibrahim picked up the ball, Rohit had completed the run.

It’s not common for Rohit to show anger on the field. Earlier in the day, he had barely reacted when Bishnoi had fumbled a potential run-out chance and Dube had dropped a catch. But now he lost his cool and gave Gill a piece of his mind.

After a few overs, the replay of the run-out was shown once again. By now, Rohit’s temper had cooled and he was seen smiling in the dressing room. “These things happen,” he said afterwards. “When it happens, you feel a little frustrated. Obviously, you want to be out there, score runs for the team. But everything will not go your way, you have to understand that.

“I wanted Gill to carry on. He played a very good, little innings there [23 off 12]; unfortunately, he got out in the end. But we won the game, which was more important.”

There are two more matches in this series. After that, Rohit should have at least 14 games in the IPL as well, but an international match is an international match, as he himself said at the toss, and he missed the first of three remaining opportunities before the T20 World Cup.