Rohit Sharma smashed seven sixes to wow the very crowd, taking India past England in the second ODI in Cuttack. The Indian captain took charge in chase of 305 to get back to form before the Champions Trophy 2025. His seven sixes brought his aggregate of ODI sixes to 338, just 13 away from former Pakistan all-rounder star Shahid Afridi, who holds the record for 351. It was a rampage from Rohit during the game, which allowed the India legend Sunil Gavaskar to poke fun in his commentary.
“If Rohit Sharma makes the gap smaller, Afridi might be tempted to come out of retirement,” Gavaskar said.
The 37-year-old raced to a half-century off 30 balls, showcasing some aggressive batting that propelled him to the second-highest run-scorer of the 2023 World Cup.
Rohit ultimately made 119 of 90 deliveries, for 32nd career century. He was on course to become the fourth Indian and 10th overall player to complete 11,000 runs in ODIs, but fell 13 short of the milestone.
Rohit’s return to form will be great news for Team India with less than two weeks left before Champions Trophy 2025 begins.
Shubman Gill has remained consistent with his good form in 50-over cricket, and this is another good news for Team India. He is handed vice-captaincy for the ODI series as well as the Champions Trophy; back-to-back half-centuries and top run-scorer of the series, so far.
England squeezed together a total of 304 in the second ODI, which was clearly well above what they had mustered in their first outing, which had been 248. Half-centuries from Ben Duckett and Joe Root, while Liam Livingstone played a cameo at the end that took them past the 300 mark.
Although 304 was not enough to eventually save themselves, India chased the total down within just under six overs to spare.
Virat Kohli of India failed to get a big score upon return to the playing XI. He missed the first ODI due to a knee injury. Kohli scored only five runs.
Good contributions from Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel helped India over the line.
Axar Patel’s form with the bat comes as a great positive for Team India, with the all-rounder impressing at No. 5 in both ODIs.
Ravindra Jadeja took three wickets once again, while Varun Chakravarthy picked up one wicket on his debut and was economical with the ball.