Putting an end to the lean patch that Rohit Sharma had endured in the past few months, especially in red-ball cricket, the India skipper served a timely warning for the opposition teams ahead of the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy by firing a destructive century to help India seal the three-match ODI series against England in the second one-dayer at Cuttack on Sunday.
Considered one of the best batters of the 50-over format, Rohit’s cheap dismissal after a seven-ball 2 in the first ODI might have raised fears ahead of the Champions Trophy but his commanding innings of 119, that included seven sixes and 12 fours during his 90-ball stay, was enough to soothe some nerves in the build-up to the Champions Trophy, that returns after a seven-year gap.
Rohit led from the front, slamming his 32nd ODI century under the lights with a dominant performance. This was his first century since the 2023 World Cup, where he scored a magnificent 131 against Afghanistan.
With his timing and shot-making back in full flow, the India skipper has found much-needed form ahead of the Champions Trophy. During his knock, Rohit became the second-highest run-scoring opener for India across formats, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar and slotting beneath Virender Sehwag.
Rohit’s match-winning knock drew compliments from seasoned all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja at the completion of the match.
“He’s such a big player that he knows how to play his innings. It’s just a matter of one innings. As you saw, it didn’t feel like he hadn’t scored runs in his previous innings. It was so smooth and confident. All the shots were normal and smooth. So, sometimes it’s just a matter of one or two innings,” Jadeja said after the victory.
“It’s a good thing that before the Champions Trophy, before an important tournament, 100 is a big innings. So, I think it’s good for the team. And obviously, he knows what his game is. There’s nothing to think about or discuss. If any batter scores a hundred before such a tournament, it is good for the player and the team. If the top-order score runs, it sets up a good platform for the rest of the batters,” added Jadeja, who also played a crucial role and ended up with impressive figures of 3/35 off his 10 overs.
Meanwhile, decoding his innings, Rohit did admit that he “really enjoyed being out there, scoring some runs for the team.”
“I really broke it down into pieces about how I wanted to bat. It’s a 50-over format, a little longer than T20 format and a little shorter than Test cricket obviously – a lot shorter than Test cricket – but obviously you still need to break it down and assess what you need to do at regular intervals and that is what I kept doing. It was important for a batter who gets set, needs to bat as deep as possible and that was my focus,” Rohit said after collecting his Player-of-the-Match award.
In the past 12 months, Rohit’s poor form has been talked about a lot. He has averaged 23.70 in Test cricket, and that slipped to 10.93 since September 2024. On Sunday, he was in his element, playing the sort of innings that has made him a giant in the format.
“Looking at the pitch, when you play on black soil, (the ball) tends to skid on a bit, so it’s important that you show the full face of the bat when you’re batting initially,” he said about his approach.
“Once I got into my innings, I understood what they were trying to do: bowling into our body and trying to not give any room, keeping it on the stumps. And that’s where I prepared my plan as well, what I wanted to do with those kinds of deliveries, trying to access the gaps which were there,” he said.
“It’s about understanding what you want to do as a batter and… obviously got very good support from (Shubman) Gill to start with and then Shreyas [Iyer] as well,” he added.