India beat New Zealand by eight wickets in the second ODI, which was played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur on Saturday (January 21). Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and opted to field first, after which the Mohammed Shami-led Indian pace attack dismantled the Kiwi batting unit completely to dismiss the opposition for just 108 runs in 34.3 overs. And then Rohit led the show with the bat by scoring a quickfire fifty to help India win the game and seal the series.
Rohit was back to his aggressive best, and with the help of seven fours and two sixes, he made 51 runs from 50 balls. He and Shubman Gill (40) added 74 runs for the first wicket to completely demolish the Kane Williamson-less side. The Indian skipper’s quickfire innings was much appreciated by fans and followers, and former Indian opening batter Aakash Chopra also reserved big words in his praise for the right-handed batter who has scored more than 9000 runs in ODI matches.
Speaking on his YouTube channel after India’s win in the 2nd ODI, Aakash said, “There was only one way New Zealand could have made a match of it, that you pick up wickets with the new ball, but nothing like that happened. Shubman Gill and Rohit Sharma – Rohit Sharma was the aggressor. When Rohit plays like that, I feel like saying Ro Superhit Sharma, Mumbai cha raja, baja raha hai baja,” said Chopra.
“The way he was batting, he would have definitely scored a century if they were chasing 250-300 because he scored 51 of the 72-run opening-wicket partnership. 51 runs off 50 balls – seven fours and two sixes,” he added.
Rohit, who has 29 ODI centuries to his name, has failed to score a hundred in ODI cricket for more than three years now. His last triple-digit score in a 50-over match was against Australia in Bengaluru on January 19, 2020.
