Rohit Sharma Goes Past 5000 ODI Runs, Misses Out on Record Century vs Australia
Rohit Sharma continued to have a magnificent time in Australia as he went past 5000 runs but his quest for a third century in the series was denied in dramatic fashion when he fell to John Hastings for 99.
Rohit Sharma's golden summer in Australia continued on Saturday in the fifth ODI. After starting the series with a bang, Rohit scaled another huge landmark but he fell agonisingly short of a record century in dramatic circumstances against Australia in Sydney. (SCORECARD)
With scores of 171* and 124 in Perth and Brisbane, Rohit suffered a blip in the next two matches, scoring 6 and 41 in Melbourne and Canberra. In the final game, Rohit played second fiddle to Shikhar Dhawan as India made a brisk start. Dhawan notched up his fifty off 42 balls while Rohit gave good company.
After the quick departures of Dhawan and Virat Kohli for 8, Rohit took the onus and steadied the ship. He registered his fifty off 59 balls and he shared a solid partnership with Manish Pandey. He punished Australia's lack of bowling options in the middle overs and flourished.
In the 34th over, Rohit went past 5000 runs by gliding Mitchell Marsh to deep backward point, becoming the 12th Indian batsmen to go past the landmark. He survived a chance on 92 when Rohit mistimed the shot to deep cover but Shaun Marsh, who had taken a great catch off Shikhar Dhawan, dropped the catch.
In the next over bowled by John Hastings, Rohit was beaten a couple of times but on the fifth ball, drama ensued. Hastings bowled a delivery just outside off and Rohit chased after it, the ball went through to wicketkeeper Matthew Wade who appealed and so did the bowler. Umpire Paul Wilson raised the finger and Rohit was absolutely gutted.
He may have missed out on a century but Rohit's knock has put India in a great position to salvage some pride.
The series has been a good recovery of form for Rohit. He struggled in the Tests against South Africa at home with scores of 2, 23, 1, 0 in four innings. There were calls to drop him altogether and many experts even wondered if he was useful in anyway to the team.
So 2016 has got off to a good start for the 28-year-old. It remains to be seen if he can contine his good form and most importantly deliver his ODI success at Test level as well.