On Wednesday, January 17, Rohit Sharma, the captain of Team India, hit his fifth T20I century. He did this during the final game of a series with Afghanistan at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
This century was a big deal for Rohit, who hadn’t been playing so well lately. The last time he had made a hundred in this format was way back in November 2018. It was against West Indies, in Lucknow.
And it wasn’t just his century that stood out. Rohit also played a crucial role in both Super Overs, steering India to a win. And this happened after a shaky start, with India at 22/4 right in the powerplay. Then he and Rinku Singh (69*) turned things around.
Rohit and his partner made a powerful 190-run partnership, unbowed, for the fifth wicket guiding their team to 212/4. Rohit, with a smashing 121* in 69 balls, made history as the first to score five T20I centuries and achieved his personal best score.
Rising to the challenge, Afghanistan accumulated 212/6 runs in 20 overs, pushing the match into a high-intensity Super Over. Mukesh Kumar saw the visitors score 16 runs during his over. India matched the 16 runs, demanding another Super Over. With just 11 runs on their side this time, Ravi Bishnoi valiantly defended them, securing two wickets in his first three balls.
Rohit Sharma made 13, then another 11 runs in the first and second Super Overs. Despite his teammates’ difficulties, he was the major scorer. He knocked 11 sixes during the game, tallying up a total of 145 runs.
The fans were overjoyed to see Rohit return to form following two straight losses in the series. Through the posting of memes on social media, they communicated their emotions.
The top memes are as follows:
Rohit Sharma reveals the reason behind his long stand with Rinku Singh in final T20I
In the game’s aftermath, Rohit Sharma took the player of the match honor. He earned it from his magnificent batting display in a game filled with runs. Sharing his thoughts post-match, he stated:
“Once in IPL, we played two Super overs and I had to bat three times. Creating a partnership is important but we kept talking to each other not to lose the intent. We may end up in a similar situation in big games, so we batted as long as possible but not to compromise the intent that we wanted to show.”
Rohit Sharma
Speaking about Rinku Singh’s performances, Rohit continued:
“In the last couple of series, he showed what he can do with the bat. He’s pretty calm and knows what’s he doing. Whenever he gets the chance, he shows good impression. Moving forward, we wanted someone who has a clear mindset at the back end and he’s doing things brilliantly. We saw him how he played in the IPL and he carried the same mindset in the International games as well.”
Rohit Sharma
On January 25, Rohit Sharma will return to action when India plays England in Hyderabad in the opening Test of the five-match series.