With speculations surrounding his future, Rohit Sharma smashed an 84-ball century – his 34th in ODI – to light up the iconic Lord’s cricket ground in London, driving India’s chase of 388 in the series decider against England on Sunday. Imagine the backdrop. A few people had written him off, while reports claimed Rohit could be playing his last game for India today. Form had deserted him in the first two matches, as scores of 11 and 26 suggest.
While the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) denied reports that Rohit could be playing his final game for India, the pressure was immense on the 39-year-old. He knew nothing short of a substantial score would do.
But that’s what separates big-match players. They know how to step up when everything is on the line. For Rohit, it was his career and his dream of playing in the 2027 ODI World Cup. A big score was the need of the hour, and he delivered in style.
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Rohit came out all guns blazing in the series decider against England, and the Hitman had no other way as India were set a daunting target of 388. There were splashes of Rohit returning to his attacking old ways, as he went after Jofra Archer and Gus Atkinson in the powerplay. The inclusion of Adil Rashid and Will Jacks into the bowling attack slowed the tempo down for Rohit, but the right-hander quickly realised that he could not afford to slow down, and once Archer was reintroduced into the attack, he went after him straightaway.
However, Rohit kept at it, biding pressure, and eventually got to his century off the bowling of Rashid. The former India captain unleashed a slog sweep, and just like that, the milestone was achieved. As soon as Rohit got to the figure, he received a warm hug from Virat Kohli, who was at the non-striker’s end. India head coach Gambhir was also seen smiling as he stood on the Lord’s balcony.
The build-up to the Lord’s ODI
Earlier this week, Rohit looked all at sea in the Cardiff ODI, where he scored 26 runs off 47 balls. During England’s batting innings, an Indian Express report claimed that the selectors informed Rohit that they don’t see him in the plans for the World Cup, and hence it’s up to him what he wants to do going ahead.
The report further claimed that Rohit could play his last game at Lord’s. However, a couple of days later, the BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia denied all the reports. Much was also made about Rohit’s equation with head coach Gautam Gambhir and chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar.
The entire debate around Rohit and Virat Kohli’s future in ODIs started after they called time on their Test careers last year. The duo scored runs every now and then, but still both Gambhir and Agarkar remained non-committal.
Gambhir and Agarkar might not have confirmed RoKo’s places in the World Cup plans, but both Rohit and Virat came out publicly to state that they want to play the tournament in South Africa, Namibia, and Zimbabwe.