Rohit Sharma is fast making it a habit of saving his best for last. Before Sunday, thrice in his last four One-Day International series, the former skipper produced his highest score in the final match – against Australia in Sydney (121 not out, October 2025), South Africa in Visakhapatnam (75, December 2025) and Afghanistan in Chennai (79, June 2026).
In a way, therefore, it came as no surprise that the right-hander fashioned a memorable 138 on Sunday, in the deciding ODI against England at Lord’s, comfortably his most voluminous tally in the three-match showdown. Unlike in the previous three instances, this came in a losing cause; India’s bowlers had been caned to the tune of 387 by a turbo-charged English line-up, and even the 39-year-old’s 34th ODI ton couldn’t prevent a 27-run loss and a 1-2 series defeat.
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It’s no secret that Rohit came into the final game with the weight of the world on his sturdy, battle-hardened shoulders. Speculation on Rohit’s international future – he has been a one-format only player for the last 14 and a half months – reached fever-pitch after efforts of 11 and 26 in the two previous fixtures, with several reports emphatically proclaiming that the Lord’s game would be his final appearance for the country. The usually silent-as-a-mummy BCCI was compelled through Devajit Saikia to dispel the rumours, the board secretary making it clear that no matter what, Sunday would not bring the curtain down on a career most illustrious. Rohit must have felt the need to prove he needed no misplaced generosity, for he turned the clock back in sensational fashion to produce an innings of the highest quality under great pressure, both from a situation perspective and from the point of view of repelling mischievous extraneous forces clearly in ungainly haste to usher him out.
Undoubtedly, because he has forever placed team before self, Rohit will be gutted that his heroics failed to inspire a miraculous triumph. But at a personal level, he will feel vindicated. Epitaphs in competitive sport often tend to be premature and convenient; there was little edifying about what seemed to be a concerted effort to signal the end of his international sojourn of extraordinary peaks. But Rohit put all that behind him in a grand show of mind over matter, ensuring that his quest for substantial runs wasn’t at the expense of team requirements that were enormous to start with.
Is BCCI treating Rohit right?
Rohit’s highest ODI score against England, a fabulous 138, might have bought him further breathing space, but is this how we should treat one of the greatest white-ball players of all time? Must his value and worth be defined by his last innings? Is that the tribute we pay to someone with an unprecedented three ODI double-hundreds, including a monumental 264 which remains the highest individual score? Is this how we treat the man who led the country to the Champions Trophy title in his final engagement as captain, after which he was summarily sacked as the leader without so much as a thank you?
The principal decision-makers in Indian cricket are clearly on a mission to rapidly and completely disassociate themselves from the past, but from the outside, there doesn’t appear to be too much method in their madness. When it suits them, they harp on the lack of experience within the ranks; also when it is convenient, they fall back on the very idea of ‘transition’ that they were once loath to acknowledge. Rohit has become a more expendable pawn in the entire exercise compared to his predecessor as captain, Virat Kohli, who has earned greater leeway because of the volume of his work which, while being supremely impressive, doesn’t necessarily overwhelm Rohit’s contributions.
Rohit buys himself time, but for how long?
While Kohli’s greater fitness levels will facilitate a longer rope, Rohit will continue to be under sustained scrutiny as India work towards firming up their plans for the next 50-over World Cup, which is 15 months away. How will head coach Gautam Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar perceive Rohit’s Lord’s exploits? Presumably with the same skewed/visionary zeal that has dotted their thought process in the last several months. No one can say with any guarantee that they will emphatically change their mind and accept without inhibition that they need Rohit’s services in southern Africa next year even if he is on the wrong side of 40 by the time the World Cup gets underway. More’s the pity, because Rohit has shown that he is no liability, and that if he is keeping Yashasvi Jaiswal out of the 50-over mix, it’s not because of past performances but current form and vastly enhanced fitness.
Does Sunday’s epic mean he is back in the fray for another shot at an elusive 50-over World Cup crown? Certainly not. But has he presented the primary stakeholders with a headache they could have done without? Oh, most definitely. Rohit Sharma might still be on borrowed time but make no mistake, he is not going down without a fight. Not without the good fight.