India captain Shubman Gill kept the suspense alive regarding Rohit Sharma’s future in international cricket, saying the former captain hasn’t informed the team about anything. Heading into the series decider against England, the rumour mills were rife that the third and final ODI against England could be the Hitman’s last for the Men in Blue, as the selectors want to look past him for the World Cup. However, the 39-year-old answered his critics in style, playing a 138-run knock, studded with 17 fours and five sixes.
Before the Lord’s ODI, the BCCI denied rumours that Rohit would play his last ODI at Lord’s. However, the pressure was truly on the right-handed batter, and he let his bat do all the talking, coming up with the goods against all odds and in a game where India were set a target of 388.
However, the 138-run knock went in vain as India went down by 27 runs to lose the series 1-2. After the defeat, the Indian captain was asked whether Rohit had played his last game for the country; however, Gill didn’t give a clear answer, saying he hadn’t spoken to Rohit about it.
Also Read: Rohit Sharma, Lord of Lord’s, burns retirement talk with historic phoenix-like century
“We have not had a chat, he’s not told us anything. We’ve not had a chat about such a thing. It’s all in the media, but there hasn’t been any discussion like that,” Gill told reporters in the post-match press conference.
In the final ODI, Gill and Rohit put on 147 runs for the opening wicket in the 388-run chase, with the former scoring 77 runs off 84 balls. The Hitman then also shared a 113-run partnership with Virat Kohli, but the efforts weren’t enough as India went down by 27 runs.
Speaking about Rohit’s innings, Gill was full of praise and said, “I think the way Rohit bhai faced the bowlers, he was very calm. Most of the time, I was a non-striker, and watching him, he was very calm. In the powerplay, we were talking about whether to go for a hit or not, but we saw that hitting with a new ball is not that easy. And I think the way he faced the bowlers, and the way he accelerated, I think he got close to 60-70 in quick time. So, he was very calm.”
How did the match unfold?
The series decider at Lord’s started with England captain Harry Brook winning the toss and opting to bat. Ben Duckett and Jacob Bethell then hammered a Jasprit Bumrah-less attack around the park, putting on 192 runs for the opening wicket, the highest for any wicket for England against India in ODIs. Bethell missed out on the ton, as he went back for 91; however, Duckett went on to play a knock of 141 runs.
Joe Root went on from where he left off in the previous ODI, playing an unbeaten knock of 74. The flourishing touch in the death overs was provided by Jos Buttler as he smashed 41 runs off just 13 balls to help England post 387/3.
Rohit then hit a 138-run knock while Gill and Kohli (74) hit fifties, but it wasn’t enough as India went down by 27 runs in the decider, and as a result, the Men in Blue lost the three-match series 1-2.