India captain Rohit Sharma ended his century drought with a dominating ton at Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on January 24 (Tuesday) in the third and final ODI against New Zealand. On a batting paradise, the Hitman started off well and took the aerial route early. He toyed with the Kiwi bowlers before reaching his century from 83 deliveries in the 26th over of the innings with a single. His batting partner Shubman Gill continued his sublime form and registered second ton of the series. Rohit and Shubman combined for a 212-run opening partnership, handing India a scintillating start.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan was mighty impressed by the batting display put on by the Indian pair. Vaughan took to Twitter and offered a compliment, which also seemed a like a sly dig at Team India.
"India finally committing to playing One day cricket the aggressive way makes them Red hot favourites to win the men’s World Cup this year .. #INDvNZ," Vaughan tweeted.
Rohit registered his 30th ton in the format and second against New Zealand. The Hitman scored an elegant 101 runs off 85 balls with the help of nine fours and six sixes. With his 30th ton, he equalled Ricky Ponting's tally of centuries in the format. His last ODI century came against Australia on January 19, 2020.
On the other hand, Gill's ton included 13 fours and five sixes before he was dismissed for 112 runs off 78 balls. Gill, who also broke Dhawan's record for the fastest to 1000 ODI runs for India when he smashed his double century in the first match of the series, also equalled the record for the most runs scored by a player in a three-match series, with the previous record of 360 runs solely held by Pakistan skipper Babar Azam.
Riding on the openers' centuries, India posted a mammoth total of 385/9 in 50 overs.
