Former India cricketers Dinesh Karthik and Ajinkya Rahane talked about Rohit Sharma’s viral celebration after scoring his century in the recent second ODI between India and West Indies. This game was played in Guwahati on September 30.
Rohit Sharma scored 101 off 75 deliveries as the Men in Blue chased down a record 406 in just 43.3 overs. He also added 255 runs for the opening wicket with captain Shubman Gill, who made 223* with 26 fours and 8 sixes.
Earlier, the West Indies had posted 405/7 in 50 overs with centuries from John Campbell, Shai Hope, and Amir Jangoo.
Rohit Sharma had not scored much in the first ODI in Thiruvananthapuram, perishing for 32 in the run chase. But he made the most of the batting conditions in Guwahati to score his 35th century and also completed 12,000 runs in the format.
Once he reached the milestone, Rohit Sharma went for an energetic run where he lifted his legs high in the air before holding his bat up to the fans. In the post-match presentation, the experienced player was reluctant to explain why he celebrated in that manner, but according to Dinesh Karthik, it is a mix of relief and hunger to prove himself.
"When you can read between the lines when they are celebrating, you can kind of understand what they have gone through. That celebration felt like relief; it felt like validation towards what he was trying to do, and there were doubts cast about whether he was good enough to get there or whether he needed to be there. But two hundreds in the last three games have pretty much put all those doubts to bed," Dinesh Karthik said on Cricbuzz.
"I think it was about him putting a mark down, saying, 'I'm here, I'm here to stay. I want to show you all that I am still very good, and I am good enough to do what it takes to help India cross the line in 12 months' time. I do feel the Rohit-Gill partnership is definitely getting there in terms of how good they have been together. We are going to see a lot of these 2 batters together, and it will come to a stage in South Africa for sure where the top three and their form will pretty much decide how strong that Indian team is going to be," he elaborated.
Rohit Sharma has now scored 512 runs in 11 ODI innings this year at an average of 46.55 and a strike rate of 104.07.
Ajinkya Rahane also admired Rohit Sharma’s display of passion even at this stage of his career. Rohit Sharma only managed 101 runs, soon after reaching his ton.
"It also shows how passionate you are about playing the game even now. Knowing Rohit, he will never respond with words, only with his bat, by performing and proving, and that is what he is doing. I really enjoyed his celebration today. I have seen different celebrations from Rohit Sharma while playing with him," Rahane said on Cricbuzz.
The third ODI between India and the West Indies will be played in New Chandigarh on October 3, and Rohit Sharma will need just 2 runs to complete 10000 runs as an opener in the format.
