India vs England ODI series: In his whirlwind century, Rohit Sharma showed he knows how to construct an innings | Cricket News
If there was anything to worry about Rohit Sharma the ODI player, it was settled in two shots early on in his innings in the second ODI against England at Cuttack. A flicked six over wide midwicket in the second over off Gus Atkinson and a hit over long-off in the fifth over off Saqib Mahmood.Rohit owns that shot – the way the hands move through the line, kicking up the imagery of a father lifting his daughter and throwing her up in joy in one swooping fluid motion. In the one Ranji Trophy game he played and was trolled after getting out cheaply in both innings, he had played that straight hit once; perhaps the confidence-revival kickstarted then.
Rohit’s 90-ball 119, including seven sixes, would seem like a whirlwind knock, but a lot of planning went into its construction. “I really broke it down into pieces about how I wanted to bat,” he said after the game. “It’s a 50-over format, a little longer than the T20 format and a lot shorter than Test cricket – but obviously you still need to break it down and assess what you need to do at regular intervals and that is what I kept doing. It was important for a batter who gets set to bat as deep as possible, and that was my focus.”
💬💬 It’s about enjoying. And that is what we play the sport for #TeamIndia Captain Rohit Sharma after scoring his 32nd ODI Century 👌👌
Watch the full conversation on https://t.co/Z3MPyeL1t7 💻📱https://t.co/y1ROV8kxbi#INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank | @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/kwbfo4QZ3D
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 10, 2025
In an earlier world, those words would suggest a 120-ball 80 kind of knock; the acceleration at start, steadying hand in middle overs, and some violence at the end. Now these phases take place within a much shorter time frame; that Rohit didn’t bat even 30 overs says much – the T20 effect.
Story continues below this ad
He was whling along on 54 from 34 balls, somewhat slowed down to 62 from 45, pressed on the gas again to move to 73 from 48, and once again eased up to 82 from 60 in the phase when Virat Kohli came and went. The skipper dealt in singles again to move to 94 from 75 balls before he pinged the long-off boundary to get to the landmark.
There isn’t much to worry about in white-ball cricket for him, but he is yet to crack the swivelled Nataraja pull shot off the front foot against the new ball; these days the weight transfer happens that bit slower than in the past. Apart from that, there is no real concern for Rohit against the white ball on pitches that are usually provided. When there is lateral movement, his penchant to play the straight lines can get him into trouble as seen in Australia with the rejigged Kookaburra ball that did something extra in the first 30 overs.
Smart play
Apart from choosing the phases to strike – that depended on the match situation and who was bowling at him – Rohit said he also took one extra precaution. Two actually.
. . . .
1⃣1⃣9⃣ Runs9⃣0⃣ Balls1⃣2⃣ Fours7⃣ Sixes
Captain Rohit Sharma dazzled and how! ✨ ✨
Relive that stunning 🎥 🔽 #TeamIndia | #INDvENG | @ImRo45 | @IDFCFIRSTBank https://t.co/0cabujjxah
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 9, 2025
“When you play on a black soil pitch, (the ball) tends to skid on a bit. So, it’s important that you show the full face of the bat.” Then he had anticipated and mentally prepped for the line of attack from England. “They were trying to bowl into the body and not give room, so I prepared my plan as well. I accessed the gaps.”
This is where he used the pull shot, but in a tamed-down gentle and intelligent manner. The intent wasn’t to send the white ball soaring into the stands, but to manoeuvre deliveries angling into his body into the gaps. Like the three shots he unfurled off Atkinson’s four deliveries spread over two overs, the 16th and 18th. The first was lapped around for four, and Rohit was set up to do the same the second time. But the ball was slower and sat up, and so he patted it over fine-leg. He lapped it for the third time into the gap and England were forced to give up the into-the-body attack.Story continues below this ad
As many as 87 percent of his runs against Atkinson were on the legside, and a lot of them bunched between midwicket and long leg as he responded to the line of attack “accessing gaps”. Mark Wood varied between back of length and fuller without movement and resultantly, the runs came via cut shots through backward point or majestic biffs to long-on. And he used the sweep frequently against Adil Rashid, picking up 13 runs in the fine-leg region.
Knowing what to do
During Kohli’s brief innings, Rohit eased up again, taking just three runs in two overs off Jamie Overton, who bowled mostly back of length and around the off-stump. And later, he let Shreyas Iyer do the biffing. The captain bunted Wood and Rashid around, rotating the strike, before he dashed down the pitch to crash-land the ball to long-off for his hundred.
32 ODI tons later, Rohit Sharma is still the man with a plan and a clear mind 🧠
Presenting – :
Unwavered, Unfiltered, Leader 🔝
WATCH 🎥🔽 – @mihirlee_58 | #TeamIndia | #INDvENG | @IDFCFIRSTBank | @ImRo45
— BCCI (@BCCI) February 10, 2025
“It was doing the things I do,” Rohit told bcci.tv after the match. “I have been here long enough. Just another day in the office … When you have scored so many runs, you have done something right; you just need to get back to that mindset of how to score runs. Sounds quite simple but it’s quite difficult. In my mind, it’s about enjoying; that’s why we play the sport.”
A Rohit Sharma striving to enjoy the game is good news for India and considering the pall of gloom that surrounded him in Australia, a welcome relief – for him, his fans, and the team.
