India captain Rohit Sharma had started his ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 campaign with a duck against Australia last Sunday. On Wednesday, the memories of those horror start were turned into a distant memory thanks to a blazing century Rohit peeled off against Afghanistan in front of a capacity crowd at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
It was an imposing ton from the seasoned India batter who made capitalised the batting friendly conditions in Delhi to hit the 31st century of his ODI career which is also the seventh such score for him in world cups.
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“It was a good pitch to bat on, just backed myself to play my natural game,” Rohit said after leading India to an eight-wicket win. “I knew once I got my eye in, the wicket was going to get easier for me. Something that I have been working on from a long time. It’s a special feeling to get a World Cup hundred. Really happy with that.”
Thanks to Rohit’s blistering show, India chased down 273 in 35 overs.
Rohit made 131 and thus surpassed the legendary Sachin Tendulkar for the record of most centuries in ODI World Cup history. However, the 36-year-old isn’t thinking about the milestone which he considers as distraction.
“Don’t want to think too much (about 7th century). I don’t want to lose my focus,” he said.
When asked if some of the shots that he played were premeditated, Rohit said. Some of it are premeditated. I let my instincts take over at times, sometimes it really works well.”
Rohit says he relishes the prospect of giving good starts in chases.
“It’s my job to make sure to get those starts especially in run chases. That’s something I have done in the past and something I love doing. Sometimes it (attacking bowlers) works, sometimes it doesn’t. Just need to keep doing it and keep putting oppositions under pressure going forward,” he added.
On the win, Rohit said it’s important to get momentum at the start of the world cup. “It was a good win for us, very important to get that momentum at the start of the tournament,” he said.
India next take on Pakistan this Saturday but Rohit says the team is treating it as just any other game and not worried about the hype surrounding the fixture.
“For us it’s crucial that we don’t worry about external factors and just look at things we can control. We just need to show up and do well. Things like what the pitch is like, what combo we can play is what we can control. What happens outside we won’t be worried about it. It’s just about focusing on what we can do as players and how we can perform,” he said.
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