India skipper Rohit Sharma roared back into form with a timely century against England at Cuttack in the 2nd ODI on Sunday. This was Rohit’s 32nd century in the 50-over format and his first since the ton against Afghanistan back in 2023. He also brought up his half century at the Barabati in just 30 deliveries.
Rohit went after the England bowlers from the get-go, bringing up his ton in 76 deliveries, peppered with 7 sixes and 9 fours. This was a welcome return to form for a player who had been suffering a lean patch with dismal performances against New Zealand and Australia in recent Test series.
Earlier, Rohit had surpassed West Indies batter Chris Gayle to rise up to second in the highest six-hitters in ODIs. Rohit, who started the match tied with Gayle with 331 maximums, surpassed the West Indies icon when he smashed a six over midwicket with his trademark flick shot to Gus Atkinson in the 2nd over.
He would follow that six with two more maximums and go up to 334 but he is still behind Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi who has 371. The Indian skipper looked to have regained some of his form after a lean period as he smashed 29 off 18 deliveries before the match suffered a brief stoppage due to a floodlight issue.
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja continued his stranglehold over English batters with brilliant figures of 3 for 35 as India bowled out the visitors for a sub-par score of 304.
On a good batting surface, Jadeja’s crucial breakthroughs came against the run of play as he dismissed an aggressive Ben Duckett (65 off 56 balls) and a well-set Joe Root (69 off 72 balls), preventing England from building on their strong start.
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