Indian captain Rohit Sharma played a magnificent innings of 119 runs against England during Cuttack’s second one-day international on Sunday, enabling the men in blue to clinch the series with a game to spare. Rohit led from the front as the hosts chased down the target of 305 runs in 46.3 overs with four wickets in hand to seal the three-match series at 2-0.
The Player of the Match award went to Rohit for his rampaging innings, who disclosed that he compartmentalized his innings to adjust his play for the limited-over format.
“I really enjoyed being out there, scoring some runs for the team. Important game, series on the line. I broke it into pieces how I wanted to bat. It’s a format that’s longer than T20s and much shorter than Tests. And, still, you need to assess and bat according to the situation. I wanted to stay focused and bat as deep as I could,” said the Indian captain.
“Looking at the pitch when black soil is used, the pitch is likely to skid on a bit, so it’s important to present the full face of the bat. Then they were trying to bowl into the body and not give room, so I prepared my plan as well.”
His partner up front Shubman Gill ably contributed with 60 runs, while Shreyas Iyer chipped in with 44 runs after that.
“I assessed the gaps and obviously had good support from Gill and then Shreyas,” said the captain.
Rohit was well-supported by opening partner Shubman Gill, contributing 60 runs to the scoreboard, and later followed by Shreyas Iyer, who chipped in with another 44 runs.
“It was just that I assessed the gaps and then Gill and Shreyas, they both supported me well,” the captain said.
“We quite enjoyed batting together with Gill being such a classy player. I have seen him from a very close distance; he never gets overawed by the situation. I think stats support my argument,” added Rohit.
Rohit scaled up the importance of handling the middle overs in the 50-over format and reiterated that India’s handling of the mid-portion of the innings proved to be vital in clinching the series.
“It is quite important, the game can go either side. If you manage and squeeze in the middle overs, it helps you not to worry at the death,” he expressed during the 37-year-old interview.
“In both these games, even in Nagpur we squeezed in the middle overs and even here we were very good in the middle overs. When you take wickets from the mid-overs you can contain the opposition,” Rohit added.
With the ICC Champions Trophy round the corner, Rohit looks to have found his return to form right on time. He insisted that collective growth and functioning at one’s core are what would make one even in the mix to live up to the expectations of flagship events.
“Right before the last game, I wanted us to improve together. We want to keep improving as a team and as players for the future,” said the opener.
“As long as guys are clear on what is expected from them, what the captain and coach are asking, then there is really not too much to think about,” he signed off.
