India captain Rohit Sharma returned to form with an impressive hundred in Sunday’s second ODI against England after being forced by poor performance to withdraw from a Sydney Test match a month earlier.
Rohit Sharma opted out of T20 Internationals right after India won their second 20-overs World Cup title but his performance in test matches has been disappointing.
Media reports claim that selectors questioned the Mumbai player about his post-Champions Trophy future because he’ll turn 38 in April.
Although Rohit scored only two runs in the first ODI against England his impressive 119 off 90 balls in Sunday’s match showed that the elegant opener still has plenty of game left.
Rohit demonstrated his clean hitting ability by clobbering seven effortless sixes while the familiar sweet sound of his bat connecting with the ball signalled that the 50-overs stalwart had returned to his element.
Player-of-the-match Rohit described his batting strategy as breaking down his approach into distinct components.
Even though the game follows a 50-over format you must analyze your objectives at regular points throughout which is what I maintained doing.
The main goal for a settled batter was to bat as far into the innings as possible which I prioritized.
Rohit’s ODI strategy involves initial assessment before aggressive play which has earned him three scores over 200, the highest ever by any batsman and includes his unbeaten 264 record in this format.
During his Cuttack match on Sunday at Barabati Stadium Rohit Sharma started his innings by avoiding cross-batted shots before launching an attack against the English bowlers.
The right-hander noted that playing on black soil causes the ball to skid which requires batters to present their full bat face at the start of their innings.
After settling into the innings I realized their strategy involved bowling straight into our bodies with minimal space while targeting the stumps.
I devised my strategy during that phase to decide how to handle those types of deliveries while looking to exploit existing gaps. A batter must know their desired response during a match.
India will start their Champions Trophy journey by playing against Bangladesh in Dubai on February 20.