India (Commonwealth) _ When Rohit Sharma accomplished the feat against Afghanistan in Bengaluru in the last and 3rd T20 International, he broke the record and became the first batter in men’s Twenty20 internationals history to achieve five centuries.
Before making a comeback in Bengaluru, Rohit, who was participating in his first T20I series since the 2022 T20 World Cup, lost both of the opening two games. It makes sense that the Indian captain garnered a lot of attention when, in the last match in Bengaluru, he decided to bat instead than bowl in contrast to his previous two Twenty20 International selections. And what a decision it turned out to be.
Rohit not only put the monkey behind his back, but he also made history, hitting an explosive century off of just 64 balls. In the process, Rohit passed Australia’s Glenn Maxwell and his India and Mumbai Indians colleague Suryakumar Yadav, who both had four hundreds.
Rohit wasn’t in the best of circumstances to begin with. India lost four wickets in their poorest Powerplay performance in the series, including prominent batsmen Virat Kohli and Sanju Samson for ducks. To begin with, Rohit wasn’t in the finest of situations. In their worst Powerplay effort of the series, India lost four wickets, including notable batters Virat Kohli and Sanju Samson for ducks. However, Rohit showed incredible resilience by taking the lead in the innings with Rinku Singh (69*), demonstrating that he was more than simply a finisher.
Following a run of early setbacks, Rohit attempted to proceed cautiously as Rinku, a striker by trade, continually maintained the boundaries. A portion of the pressure was redirected into Afghanistan as the two began to withstand it. Despite his unglued hitting, Rohit persisted and achieved his fifty off just 41 balls. However, Rohit’s next fifty deliveries fell off in just 22 balls when he made a cunning gear shift. Rohit finished unbeaten on 121 off 69 balls after hitting 11 fours and eight sixes at an amazing strike rate of 175.36.
Rohit wrote the longest history in the shortest amount of time with this innings. The following is the most recent list of centuries in T20Is:
– Indian Rohit Sharma – 5
– Indian Suryakumar Yadav – 4
– Australia’s Glenn Maxwell – 4
In T20Is, Rohit also surpassed former England captain Eoin Morgan for the record for most sixes by a captain. Morgan finished his career with 86 sixes in T20Is, compared to the Indian opener’s current 87. Rohit also held the record for the most runs scored by an Indian skipper in Twenty20 Internationals. He now has 1647 runs, surpassing previous skipper Virat Kohli (1570) on this ranking.
Rohit Sharma- 1647 runs
Virat Kohli – 1570 runs.
MS Dhoni – 1112 runs
With 121, Rohit is still undefeated and has amassed the fourth-highest score by an Indian in a single T20I innings. Although it took two Super Overs to end the tie, India would have been happy to see their captain return to form.
Without Rohit Sharma’s sixth T20I hundred, a standoff would never have broken through in two Super Overs. Therefore, it was certainly no accident that Gulbadin Naib’s aggressive 23-ball fifty-five, which helped Afghanistan tie India’s apparently insurmountable 212 runs, was followed by Sharma’s two crucial boundaries that proved to be the difference. The last touches to this nail-biting victory were provided by Ravi Bishnoi’s skidders, which Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Muhammad Nabi were unable to get beneath.
Sharma hit short fine-leg for four despite the fact that the opening ball of the 16th over was far outside off. The following ball came outside off and short, and Sharma was in position to clobber it for a huge six very soon. Karim Janat’s 17th over four and a six really set the tone for the final over’s attack, which saw Sharma and Singh score 4,6,6,1,6,6,6 to end a frantic last five overs that saw India score 103 runs. No length escaped punishment, and no line held up as India committed a bloodbath Bengaluru has become accustomed to.
It was predicted that Afghanistan would strike hard at the objective. However, the ferocity with which Ibrahim Zadran and Rahmanullah Gurbaz raised the first fifty in their opening stand ought to have raised some red flags. At that point, the pitch had also become more forgiving, enabling Afghanistan to just play past the line.
Gurbaz had to be removed with a well-timed catch by Washinton Sundar, and then Samson cleverly stumped Zadran to bring him back. Mohammad Nabi, playing in his 100th Twenty20 International, hammered off a 16-ball 34, but Naib grabbed the initiative and turned it into a draw.
Afghanistan was defeated by India in two super overs even though they scored more than 200 in the first twenty overs. India batted first in the second super over, losing two wickets and wasting one delivery while scoring 11 runs in five balls. In order to assist India defeat Afghanistan, Ravi Bishnoi captured two wickets and gave up just one run in three deliveries while defending 12 runs.
