Rohit Sharma, the Team India skipper wasn’t happy with the media and broadcaster’s ‘first century in three years’ remark after he brought up his 30th ODI century against New Zealand in Indore in the third ODI. Rohit Sharma slammed the broadcaster while responding to a question on the same in the post-match press conference.
The Team India skipper finally ended his century drought as he reached the three-figure mark against New Zealand in the third inconsequential ODI against New Zealand. Rohit Sharma’s ton laid the foundation for India’s 90-run win in the series finale and consequently the 3-0 series sweep, however, the skipper wasn’t really happy with the host broadcaster Star Sports showing his century as first in three years.
Rohit Sharma Feels 3 Years Without A Century Sounds A Lot As He Has Played Only 12 ODIs Within That Period
After replying to the question on Jasprit Bumrah and tracking his progress, Rohit Sharma said, “Regarding the first hundred in three years, I’ve played only 12 ODIs in three years, so three years sounds a lot..”
The skipper added, “You guys should know what’s happening. I know that it was shown on the broadcast, sometimes, you (the broadcasters) need to show the right things also. The last entire year, we didn’t play ODI cricket, we focused on T20 cricket a lot. So, sometimes, people should keep things in mind…the broadcasters should show the right things.”
Rohit Sharma Reckons It Wasn’t A Big Comeback For Him
In the last few innings, Rohit Sharma scored 27 and 51* (against Bangladesh), 83,17, and 42 (against Sri Lanka), 34 and 51 in the 1st two NZ vs IND ODIs. His last ODI ton came in January 2020 against Australia before his 101 in the 3rd NZ vs IND ODI.
Since that ODI ton in 2020, Rohit Sharma had played 16 ODIs and had managed 5 fifties in that time, but his hundreds column was zero before a ton after a 17 ODI gap. He had gotten starts many times but had been unable to go on and score a hundred until the 3rd NZ vs IND ODI.
Addressing another question if the innings was the ‘big comeback’ for Rohit Sharma, the 35-year-old snapped at the journalist and said, “What sort of a comeback? I didn’t get it. Oh, someone must’ve told you! See, of those last three years, for eight months (in 2020), everyone was home.”
“Where were the matches? Last year, we played only T20 cricket. In T20 cricket these days, no one is batting better than Suryakumar Yadav. He has scored 2 hundreds (in T20Is), and I don’t think anyone else has scored a century. Regarding Tests, I’ve played just 2 matches, against Sri Lanka (last year), while I was injured in between. So, you see all this before making your news.”
In reply, New Zealand were all out for 295 in 41.2 overs with Devon Conway scoring a 100-ball 138. While skipper Rohit Sharma struck 101 off 85 balls, the young Shubman Gill blazed away to a 78-ball 112, after the visitors asked India to bat at the Holkar Cricket Stadium. Virat Kohli chipped in with 36 off 27 balls after the opening duo added 212 runs in 26.1 overs. Later, Hardik Pandya smashed a 38-ball 54 to power India.
Brief scores: India: 385 for 9 in 50 overs (Rohit Sharma 101, Shubman Gill 112, Hardik Pandya 54). beat New Zealand: 295 all out in 41.2 overs (Devon Conway 138; Shardul Thakur 3/45, Kuldeep Yadav 3/62) by 90 runs.