Former Cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar has made a big remark on Rohit Sharma’s much-awaited comeback in the second ODI in the England tour of India 2025.
He predicted that the Indian captain would return to his aggressive batting style in the next game. With Rohit Sharma‘s place in the ODI remains questioned, he dismissed the critics with an impressive 119 knock in Cuttack.
After the hitman’s century, Sanjay Manjrekar opined that the Indian batter was cautious as he needed to come up with a big score.
“People who are big brands in India, they feel that pressure of expectation. It’s not just about getting your 40s and 50s that he was doing during the World Cup. Somewhere, there’s an expectation of a hundred.”
“It’s like a certificate of you being in form. This format allows you to take that monkey off your back. You saw the way he did it. He wasn’t as attacking as he was during the World Cup.”
“Still, when he decides to pace his innings, it’s just incredible how easily he does it. [He was] very selective in the way he played his shots. So, finally that question was answered.”
“I have a feeling in the next match he will play again in the way that he thought was best for the team. This one was more for himself. Obviously, one that wanted the team to win. But this is one that he’ll say, this one is for me,” the 59-year-old added.
Rohit’s 32nd ODI hundred comprises 12 fours and 7 sixes in his excellent knock adding 136 runs for the first wicket with Shubman Gill who scored 60 runs.
Chasing the target of 305, India got home in 44.3 overs, with four wickets in hand, to secure an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three match ODI series.
With this century, he stands behind Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli in the all-time list. During the knock, he also surpassed Chris Gayle’s record of most sixes in ODI cricket.
Rohit now sits at the second position with a tally of 332 while Gayle follows him with 331. Meanwhile, Shahid Afridi sits in the top with 351 ODI sixes.
Rohit Sharma moved to fourth place among Indians with most ODI runs with 10,897 runs going past Rahul Dravid who has 10,889 runs.
