Former Indian cricketer Irfan Pathan had already backed Rohit Sharma to achieve a huge milestone prior to Team India's meeting with Tom Latham-led New Zealand in the third and final One Day International (ODI) of the bilateral series. On Tuesday, the Hitman repaid Irfan's faith by smashing a sensational century as India crushed New Zealand to complete the 3-0 series whitewash of the Black Caps at Indore.
Veteran Indian opener Rohit smashed his first ODI century in three years at the Holkar Cricket Stadium. While Indian captain Rohit ended his three-year wait for a century, opener Shubman Gill extended his free-scoring run and notched up his fourth ODI ton in the Indore encounter. Centuries from Rohit and Gill sealed India's 90-run win over New Zealand.
Talking about Rohit's blistering knock against the Black Caps, former Indian all-rounder Irfan highlighted that the Indian captain is on the verge of completing 10,000 runs in ODI cricket. "He has taken full command of the Indian batting since he started opening, either through a good average or with the approach he has changed in the last one to one-and-a-half years - with a good strike rate. So he is continuously contributing. A century has come after three years and 10,000 runs will also come," Pathan told Star Sports.
Rohit's superb knock against New Zealand was also his 30th ODI ton. The 35-year-old has equalled Ricky Ponting's century record in the 50-over format. Rohit slammed his 30th ODI ton in 83 balls at Indore. This was also Rohit's second-fastest century in the 50-over format. The senior batter last scored an ODI ton against Australia at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in 2020.
{{/usCountry}}Rohit's superb knock against New Zealand was also his 30th ODI ton. The 35-year-old has equalled Ricky Ponting's century record in the 50-over format. Rohit slammed his 30th ODI ton in 83 balls at Indore. This was also Rohit's second-fastest century in the 50-over format. The senior batter last scored an ODI ton against Australia at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in 2020.
{{/usCountry}}"He has equalled Ricky Ponting's 30 ODI centuries. Even in his (Ponting's) country, he (Rohit) has an average of around 53, which is a huge number, and has scored five hundreds also there. He has an average of 64 in England as well. So he has scored runs everywhere and we have seen him scoring runs in India regularly in any case," Irfan added.