Guwahati (Assam) [India], September 30 (ANI): Following a majestic hundred against the West Indies, former Indian skipper Rohit Sharma said he would keep the celebration private and that “some things are just meant to be with you and not to be shared”.
Rohit brought up his century in 72 balls in the second ODI on Wednesday as he did a celebratory hopping jog and punched the air in delight.
West Indies were subjected to a brutal batting onslaught from India, as Shubman Gill’s double century and Rohit Sharma’s fluent hundred powered the hosts to their highest successful run chase in ODI history.
India chased 406 against the West Indies in the second ODI in Guwahati on Wednesday in just 43.3 overs, becoming only the second team after South Africa to successfully chase a 400-plus target in ODI cricket.
Reflecting on the chase, Rohit praised the pitch, his partnership with skipper Gill and their focus on playing each ball on its merit rather than the scoreboard. Rohit said India’s top order knew it had to provide a strong start and credited Gill for remaining composed throughout his innings.
He also joked that, after 50 overs of fielding and a long batting effort, he had no intention of following Ravindra Jadeja’s suggestion to celebrate by sliding and jumping.
Sharma smashed a fluent hundred, slamming 101 runs off 75 balls, including 10 fours and 6 sixes. Gill slammed a brilliant 223 runs off 133 balls, laced with 26 fours and 8 sixes.
“I’ll keep that celebration to myself. Some things are just meant to be with you, and it’s not to be shared. So that was for me. The wicket was good, we just wanted to continue batting. We were not thinking about the scoreboard. We were trying to play the merit of the ball. We were trying to stitch a partnership. Gill was fantastic on the other end. He was in control of his batting. To see him stay not out was fantastic to see as well. It comes down to concentration,” he said.
“You have to keep telling yourself to not throw it away. I wanted to use my experience. We knew the pitch was good and we needed big runs from the top order, and that’s exactly what happened, and we had a very good partnership at the top, and it pretty much sealed the game for us. [Jadeja] wanted me to slide and jump and celebrate, but after fifty overs of fielding and batting so much, I was never going to do that,” Rohit said after the match.
Gill and Sharma also added 255 runs for the opening wicket, registering the second-highest opening partnership for India in ODI cricket. They fell just three runs short of the record set by Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, who put together a 258-run stand against Kenya in Paarl in 2001. (ANI)
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