Rohit Sharma’s poor form with the bat finally ended with a 76-ball hundred in Cuttack on Sunday against England in the second ODI. Chasing England’s 305, the Indian captain led from the front to steer the Indian team in the chase and scored his first international hundred in nearly a year. Rohit Sharma’s last international hundred also came against England in Tests in 2024.
After being dismissed for single digits in Nagpur, Rohit Sharma made his intent right from the start in Cuttack. Following a barren first over, Rohit Sharma took the charge with a six and a four off Gus Atkinson in the second over to start with a bang.
With Shubman Gill playing the second fiddle, Rohit Sharma went bonkers at the other end as the English bowlers scratching their heads. In fact, the 30-minute beak due to a floodlight failure couldn’t break the Indian captain’s concentration as the right hander went into his business with in his own way.
Notably, this was Rohit Sharma‘s first hundred in ODIs since his ton against Afghanistan in the 2023 ODI World Cup at home. It also ends Rohit Sharma’s international century drought after nearly a year. His last international hundred came against England last year in Tests.
With this hundred, Rohit Sharma is now behind Virat Kohli (50) and Sachin Tendulkar (49) in the list of most ODI hundreds for India. He was finally dismissed for 119, which included 12 fours and seven sixes.
Rohit’s return to form comes at right time
Rohit Sharma’s return to form comes at a crucial time with just 10 days left for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Having endured a wretched run since the start of the New Zealand series, the Indian skipper faced the most scathing criticism in his 17-plus years at the international level.
Finally, the sixes were soaring into the stands and one saw the vintage Rohit Sharma, who wasn’t pre-empting anything but like good old days reacting to the deliveries.
On a firm and even bounce track, Saqib Mahmood, Gus Atkinson, Jamie Overton, all decided to bowl the fuller length. However, most of the deliveries were over-pitched and Rohit Sharma had played enough cricket to hit through the line with immaculate timing.
