Rohit Sharma Slams Statement Century Days After 'Last ODI' Buzz, Achieves Feat That Even Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli Doesn't Have
The last couple of days in Indian cricket have been all about one man - Rohit Sharma.
- Rohit Sharma was reportedly told he may not be picked again by BCCI selectors after second ODI loss
- Rohit scored the first-ever ODI century by an Indian at Lords at age 39 years and 80 days
- BCCI secretary Devaijit Saikia has said Rohit will play as long as he wants to
The last couple of days in Indian cricket have been all about one man - Rohit Sharma. The veteran batter is in his 19th year in international cricket. A day after India lost the second ODI against England, several reports claimed that the BCCI selectors had told him they had decided to 'move on' from him and that he may not be picked going forward. In that sense, the third ODI on Sunday was going to be his 'last'. The frenzy surrounding the claims was so high that BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia released an official statement saying Rohit would play as long as he wanted to. "In other words, the Lord's ODI won't be his last match," he said.
The pressure, though, remained on Rohit, with India's planning for the ODI World Cup 2027 in full swing. Rohit responded in style on Sunday. He slammed a brilliant century at Lord's in a 388-run chase. With that, Rohit became the first Indian batter to score an ODI hundred at Lord's. The previous highest was 90 by Sourav Ganguly (vs England in 2004). At the age of 39 years and 80 days, Rohit is the oldest player to score an ODI century at Lord's and the oldest Indian to score an international century at the venue across all formats.
Ben Duckett made mincemeat of an inexperienced Indian bowling attack with a fabulous 141 as England posted a mammoth 387 for 3 in the series-deciding third ODI, riding on a 192-run opening stand between the centurion and Jacob Bethell here on Sunday.
Jasprit Bumrah's absence due to an impact injury on his left knee was certainly a blow for India and that proved to be telling for the visitors.
The four-pronged pace attack comprising Prasidh Krishna (2/69 in 10 overs), Arshdeep Singh (0/72 in 10 overs), Prince Yadav (1/79 on 10 overs) and Gurnoor Brar (0/97 in 10 overs), with a cumulative experience of 51 ODIs, lacked both skill and experience against an in-form batting line-up.
Duckett and Bethell (91 off 93 balls) were fantastic in terms of planning and execution. The batting powerplay of first 10 overs yielded 58 runs but the wheels came off between overs 11 to 30 when they literally ran the bowlers ragged.
With head coach Gautam Gambhir using Kuldeep Yadav in only 38 games out of a total 103 matches (across three formats) since his appointment, the lack of a second spinner save Axar Patel (0/61 in 10 overs) did hurt India.
With PTI inputs
Rohit Sharma
India Cricket Team
England Cricket Team