In another incident of security breach, a young fan entered the stadium in the second ODI of the three-ODI series against New Zealand. The young fan hugged Rohit Sharma but it was the security personnel who almost knocked him down the Indian skipper.
The incident took place in the 10th over of India’s run chase. The fan ran towards Rohit who was batting on 37 and was about to face Blair Tickner’s fifth delivery of the over. The security personnel in an attempt to catch the fan had a collision with Rohit who was visibly upset by the incident.
The 35-year-old tried to calm down the security personnel as the intruder was just a boy.
The opener went on to score 51 off 50 deliveries including seven fours and two sixes in the run chase of 109. His half-century helped India win by eight wickets in the first ever ODI hosted at Shaheen Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur.
“I'm trying to change my game a bit now, have been trying to take the bowlers on and I think that's important. I know the big scores haven't come, but I'm not too worried about it,” Rohit said in the post-match presentation as India took an unassailable lead in the three-ODI series.
With his 48th ODI half-century, Rohit also equalled West Indies opener Chris Gayle's rare feat. Rohit now has 46 fifty-plus scores in ODI run chases, the joint fourth-most by a batter. The list is led by Sachin Tendulkar who has 69 fifty-plus scores in ODIs followed by Virat Kohli (61) and Jacques Kallis.
After India's biggest ODI win against New Zealand in terms of balls remaining (179), Rohit also lauded Indian bowlers, especially Mohammed Siraj and Mohammed Shami.
“The last five games, bowlers have really stepped up. Whatever we have asked of them, they have stepped up and delivered. You don't usually see this type of seam movement in India, you generally see it outside India. These guys have some serious skills, they work really hard and it's great to see them being rewarded,” Rohit said.
“They (Shami and Siraj) were raring to keep bowling long spells but I reminded them that there is a Test series coming up as well (Australia at home), so we need to take care of themselves as well,” he added.
