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India have been in fine form in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 as expected, and one of the catalysts for their brilliant performance has been their captain Rohit Sharma. After a poor start in the first match, wherein he was sent back to the pavilion for a duck, he smashed 131 against Afghanistan, before continuing the same form against Pakistan in their third match of the campaign at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday, October 14.
Rohit started his innings with a boundary, showing how confident he was feeling. After a couple more boundaries, Rohit upped the ante and smashed three sixes in each of the next three overs to etch his name in history books.
Coming off Haris Rauf's bowling, Rohit's third six of the innings took him to 300 sixes in ODI cricket, a record held only by two other cricketers: Shahid Afridi and Chris Gayle.
The six came off a Length on off delivery, as the India skipper took a step down the pitch and smashed the ball over mid-on and to the ropes. He was not done after this as well, hitting Rauf for a six in the same over, his fourth of the match and 301st in ODI cricket.
Meanwhile, Team India seems to be cruising to their victory as they look to go to the top of the points table. This is also because the bowlers were in their best form, dismissing Pakistan for just 191 runs.
After a slow start, India's bowlers rose to the occasion, bundling out their adversaries for a paltry 191 runs in 42.5 overs. All, except Shardul Thakur, managed to pocket two wickets each.
Upon winning the toss, Rohit Sharma elected to field, resulting in a stable start for Pakistan. The opening pair, Abdullah Shafique and Imam-ul-Haq, combined for nine boundaries, yet failed to clear the ropes. Skipper Babar Azam came to bat but was restricted to just one four.
Shafique, the standout performer from the last game, was the first to head back, succumbing to Mohammed Siraj in the eighth over. By the completion of the 10th over, Pakistan had posted 49/1.
Facing the Indian bowlers, Pakistan's batters found the going tough. Skipper Babar led from the front, scoring 50 runs from 58 balls. Mohammad Rizwan chipped in with 49, but the team witnessed a sharp decline, shedding eight wickets for a mere 36 runs. They wrapped up their innings at 191 after 43 overs, without a single maximum to their name.
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