Former India captain Rohit Sharma played a crucial role for the Shubman Gill-led side in the third ODI against Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground in Sydney. Rohit, who was removed from the captaincy before the Australia series, was awarded Player of the Series in the recently concluded three-match ODI series against Australia.
Soon after BCCI's move to appoint Shubman as Rohit's sucessor in ODI, there were speculations that the T20 World Cup 2024 winning captain might retire before the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Rohit Sharma runs vs Australia
The batting great scored 202 runs in three matches, including an unbeaten 121-run match-winning knock in the last clash that helped the Men in Blue to save a series whitewash. Notably, this was Rohit's first cricketing outing since the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, as he announced Test retirement in May before the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 against England.
Rohit Sharma on his long cricket break
BCCI shared a video where Rohit said that this is the first time since he started playing that he got a long four-five months break from cricket, and he wanted to utilise that.
"Since the time I started playing, I never had uh four to five months to prepare for a series. So I wanted to utilise that. I wanted to do things on my way and in my own terms. And that actually worked out pretty well for me. Understanding what I need to do for the rest of my career, uh, it was important to utilise that time because, like I said, I never had such time in my hand" said Rohit on a video shared by BCCI.
Rohit Sharma on Australia conditions
Rohit admitted that the conditions in India and Australia are not the same and he was looking to get back his rhythm and understanding on what to do in Australia.
"So I wanted to utilise that time, and I prepared pretty well back home. Obviously, the conditions back home and here are not ideal. There's a massive difference between the two countries. But I've come here so many times. So it was just about getting into that rhythm and understanding what I need to do here. So yeah, I give a lot of credit to how I prepped before coming here. Giving a lot of time to myself first" Rohit added.
Rohit Sharma's upcoming outing
Rohit will now be seen in action in the upcoming three-match ODI series against South Africa, which is scheduled to start from November 29, and the series opener will take place in Ranchi.