Courtesy: BCCI
In pursuit of the big target of 305 runs in the second ODI of the three-match series at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack, Indian captain Rohit Sharma returned to form in style with a sensational hundred in 76 balls, taking English bowlers to the cleaners. The 37-year-old, who has been in woeful form in Indian colours for the past few months, graced the fans with his vintage hitting in the first power play stage and beyond, on his way to 32nd ODI hundred.
After bundling out England for 304 runs in 49.5 overs, India had a stiff task in front of them, to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. Rohit Sharma walked out to bat alongside Shubman Gill, who returned to opening with him, and the Indian captain struck a four and six in the second over of the innings, to let his intentions known to the English bowling attack about how he is willing to put them on the backfoot despite being not in form.
The right-handed batter brought up his fifty in just 30 balls while being quite severe on Gus Atkinson and Adil Rashid in particular, hitting them for boundaries at will. He also teared into other bowlers on occasion, to keep his innings going before reaching the three-figure score for the first-time in international cricket since March 7, 2024, when he had gotten a hundred at home against the same opposition in a Test match in Dharamsala.
Below are the playing XIs of India and England for second ODI in Cuttack:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy
England: Ben Duckett, Phil Salt (wk), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (c), Liam Livingstone, Jamie Overton, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood, Saqib Mahmood
