Indian captain Rohit Sharma was asked about his ‘comeback’ in ODIs after the third game of the series against New Zealand, which saw him score his first century in the format in three years. The 35-year-old clearly became irritated by the question and hit back at the journalists instead.
Sharma has been in magnificent form in 50-over cricket lately. In the first ODI against Sri Lanka in Guwahati, he slammed 83 runs and narrowly missed out on a century. The half-centuries have also started to pour recently, but Rohit ended his three-year wait for a ton in One Day Internationals after reaching the milestone in the third ODI against New Zealand in Indore.
On a track that looked great for batting, the Indian skipper was in majestic form and timed his shots brilliantly. He dispatched the Black Caps bowlers all over the park and brought up his 30th ODI century to equal the record of Ricky Ponting’s ODI career.
When the Hitman reached the milestone during the game, the Star Sports broadcasters flashed a graphic that showed that it was his first century in three years. While the statistic was true, Rohit felt that it didn’t capture reality and instead communicated the wrong picture to the audience.
“Regarding the first hundred in three years, I’ve played only 12 (17) ODIs in three years. Three years sounds a lot,”
he told the media after India completed a 3-0 ODI whitewash of New Zealand.
“You guys should know what’s happening. I know that it was shown on broadcast but kabhi kabhi woh cheez bhi dhyan dena chahiye, broadcaster ko bhi sahi cheez dikhana chahiye (the broadcasters should give the correct picture),”
he added.
A journalist further enquired him whether this innings was the signal for his return in ODI cricket. Rohit, who had been in sublime form in that match and had smacked nine fours and six sixes as India won by 90 runs, instead retorted by saying:
“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.”
He added that India were only playing T20I cricket last year because of the T20 World Cup. And in T20Is, it is very difficult to score a century unless the person is Suryakumar Yadav.
Centuries Rohit Sharma as well as his opening partner Shubman Gill put India in a comfortable position, and they went on to seal a 90-run win at the expense of the visitors.
