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For a team management which has refused to talk up personal milestones, a 39-year-old Rohit Sharma brought out a knock that left every cricket fan thrilled to bits. Chasing an improbable target of 388 in the series decider and striving to extend his career beyond this match, Rohit became the first Indian to score an ODI hundred at Lord's on Sunday.
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Rohit's knock of 138 off 110 balls is bound to trigger raging debates over his place in India's ODI World Cup plans. But it must not be lost on the caretakers of Indian cricket that India have lost three out of the last four ODI series with India going down by 27 runs on a pitch which was closest to the surfaces in India. Head coach Gautam Gambhir will board the flight from London having won just one match on a white-ball tour which also includes suffering a T20I whitewash at the hands of Ireland. Shubman Gill is yet to win a series since he took over the captaincy from Rohit last October.
Discussions around India's preparation for next year's World Cup have largely revolved around Rohit at the top of the order. As he has been doing of late, Rohit fired in the fag end of a series. And as India have been doing of late, their batting is consistently coming second to the oppositions in high-scoring matches. Most importantly, it is well established by now that the bowling attack is invariably out of breath without Jasprit Bumrah, who sat out due to an impact injury suffered in the last ODI in Cardiff. The English batting feasted on the young Indian bowling attack with Ben Duckett scoring 141 off 135 and Jacob Bethell hitting 91 off 93 followed by Joe Root's unbeaten74 off 48 and Jos Buttler's defining unbeaten 13-ball 41.
Rohit did what he had to tell the team management and the selectors that he isn't done with playing for India. The innings may not have had the fluency and array of strokes that one associates with Rohit, but it screamed of his resilience and mental strength of a champion. The start offered by Gill and Rohit was bizarre with the duo going at around 5-5.5 runs per over for the first 20 overs of a chase that demanded a run rate close to 7.5 runs per over.
Rohit did cut loose once India lost Gill for 77 off 84 balls at the score of 147 and Virat Kohli striding out with an intent to chase down this total. Rohit's struggles against the good length ball on off stump were evident as he waited for the short balls to unleash his vintage pull shots. His first boundaries down the ground came nearly around the 30 over mark once he got absolutely settled. It felt like he was in familiar territory with Kohli in his ears at the other end. The chase really began after 25 overs and it fizzled out with a cramping Rohit falling in the 39th over. With the 103-run partnership in about 14 overs, Kohli and Rohit rolled back time but hopes of a miracle ended as Kohli departed for 74 off 60.
