While Virat Kohli's long-running century drought in international cricket came to an end last year, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was not able to convert good starts into a three-figure score in the ODI format. On January 24, Rohit ended his century drought with a dominating ton at Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore. His previous ODI century against New Zealand came in 2017 at Kanpur. He scored 147 runs from 138 deliveries in a high-scoring encounter.
On a batting paradise of a pitch, Rohit started off well and started to take the aerial route early. The lightning-fast outfield helped the opener and he got to his half-century with a six off left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner in the 14th over from 41 deliveries.
He continued to bat in similar fashion and toyed with an inexperienced Kiwi bowling lineup. He reached his century from 83 deliveries in the 26th over of the innings with a single.
This is Rohit’s 30th ton in the format and second against New Zealand. With 30th ton, he has equalled Ricky Ponting's tally of centuries in the format. His last ODI century came against Australia on January 19, 2020. He scored 119 runs from 128 deliveries.
Rohit did not bat long after reaching the three figures. Rohit went for a slog against Michael Bracewell but missed the ball completely and got bowled. He scored 101 runs from 85 deliveries including nine fours and six sixes.
Rohit shared a 212-run opening partnership, the fifth-highest for India in ODIs. The record for highest opening partnership by an Indian pair belongs to Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar. The legendary duo shared a 258-run partnership against Kenya in 2001.
On the other end, Gill scored 112 runs from 78 deliveries, his third ton of the year. His 112-run knock included 13 fours and five sixes. His 112-run knock included 13 fours and five sixes. He equalled Pakistan skipper Babar Azam’s record of most runs in a three-ODI series. The 23-year-old opener scored 360 runs at an average of 180 including a record-breaking double ton in the first ODI of the series.
