It was a sensational batting display from Indian cricket team skipper Rohit Sharma as he slammed a brilliant century in the third T20I encounter against Afghanistan in Bengaluru on Wednesday. This was the fifth T20I century for Rohit and he became the first batter ever to achieve the feat in the shortest format of the game. Rohit remained unbeaten on 121 off 69 deliveries with the help of 11 fours and 8 sixes. Thanks to his phenomenal innings, Rohit also surpassed Virat Kohli‘s tally to become the Indian cricket team skipper with the most runs in T20I cricket. Kohli held the record previously with 1570 runs as captain.
Rohit produced a marvellous, situation-defying hundred, his fifth in T20Is, as India recovered from a top-order meltdown to post a massive 212 for 4 against Afghanistan in the third and final T20I.
Rohit (121 not out, 69b, 11×4, 8×6) and his perfect sidekick Rinku Singh (69 n,o, 39b, 2×4, 6×6) shared 190 runs for a stellar, unbeaten fifth-wicket stand as India came back from a flaky 22 for four after opting to bat first.
The numbers might suggest a different story, but it was not one of Rohit’s downright marauding knocks but he had to restrain himself for a good part of his stay because of the situation his team had dug itself in.
Even Rinku displayed his destructive instincts judiciously and that gradually-building crescendo was the trademark of their alliance.
Rohit even had to bring out a rather rare shot from his arsenal, reverse sweep to unsettle Afghan spinners.
In fact, a reverse sweep off leg-spinner Qais Ahmad fetched him a T20 fifty for the first time since October 2022.
Of course, there were those inevitable and archetypal pulls too that make a Rohit innings such a compelling watch.
The Mumbaikar’s on-one-leg pull off pacer Mohammed Saleem that sailed into second tier was an astounding shot.
Soon, the fifty blossomed into a hundred off 63 balls, Rohit’s first in T20I since his 111 against the West Indies at Lucknow in 2018, which came through a sliced boundary behind point off pacer Omarzai.
This was also Rohit’s highest score in T20Is, surpassing his 118 against Sri Lanka at Indore in 2017.
(With PTI inputs)
