India captain Rohit Sharma was the hero of the day as his 32nd ODI century helped the Men in Blue upset England in the second ODI, which was played in Cuttack on February 9, 2025. With this 4-wicket victory, India took a 2-0 lead in the three-match One-Day International series.
England had won the toss and decided to bat first. Ben Duckett (65), Joe Root (69), and Liam Livingstone (41) helped England score 304 runs in 50 overs. Ravindra Jadeja starred for India, scoring 3/35 in 10 overs.
In reply, Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill (60) contributed 136 runs for the first wicket. Rohit added 70 runs with Shreyas Iyer (44) after Gill and Virat Kohli were dismissed for 5 runs each. Axar Patel stayed on 41* as India reached the score in 44.3 overs with four wickets in hand.
Rohit Sharma looked in full control during his knock and unlike the last few dismissals, the false shots were avoided. It was a free-flowing knock by the captain that deflated the opposition in a tough chase of over 300 runs.
Rohit Sharma was named Player of the Match after scoring 119 runs, including 12 fours and seven sixes.
“It was good, really enjoyed being out there, scoring some runs for the team. Important game, and series on the line. I broke it into pieces how I wanted to bat. It's a format that is longer than T20 cricket and a lot shorter than Tests. Still, you need to assess and bat according to the situation. I wanted to stay focused and bat as deep as possible. Looking at the pitch when you play on black soil, the pitch tends to skid on a bit so it's important that you show the full face of the bat. Then they were trying to bowl into the body and not give room so I prepared my plan as well,” Rohit Sharma said at the post-match presentation.
Rohit also credited Shubman Gill, with whom he added 136 runs for the opening wicket.
“I accessed the gaps and obviously, I got good support from Gill and then Shreyas. We enjoy batting with each other, Gill is a very very classy player. I have seen him from close quarters and he doesn't get overawed by the situation. The numbers are there as well if I'm not wrong,” Rohit added.
He was asked about the importance of middle overs in an ODI and he spoke about assessing the game as it goes.
“It's quite important, the game can go either side. If you manage and squeeze in the middle overs, it helps you not to worry at the death. In both games, even in Nagpur, we squeezed in the middle overs, and even here we squeezed in the middle overs. When you take wickets in the middle overs, you can contain the opposition. We want to keep getting better as a team.
I said after the last match as well, we want to get better as a team and as players. As long guys are clear what they are supposed to do and whatever the captain and coach is saying, if they execute it then there's not much to think about,” he concluded.
India has won the series 2-0 and the third and final ODI will be played on February 12 in Ahmedabad.
