On 2 November 2013, eight years ago, Rohit Sharma decided he was going to get the record. The record being his first double hundred in ODIs. Later in his career, he scored two more but the first one always remains a special one.
When, in the seventh and decisive ODI of this bilateral series, Australia decided they were going to bowl first, Rohit saw a chance at Bengaluru and seized the opportunity.
Fabulous 16 Sixes
HITMAN
8 years of 209 #RohitSharma #T20WorldCup #TeamIndia #indiancricket pic.twitter.com/e4AMDVB8aN— आदिवासी Akhil (@Akhil89302635) November 2, 2021
The series had seen many a flat tracks and this M Chinnaswamy one was no different. The small size of the ground made batters smack their lips.
Rohit, as usual, started off slowly and then picked up speed. It was his partner-in-crime Shikhar Dhawan who was doing the run-scoring at quick rate initially, as she smashed a fifty in just about 30 deliveries. Dhawan soon went back for a 60 and Kohli lasted only three balls as he got run out for a duck, thanks to the infamous history of misunderstanding between him and Rohit while running between the wickets.
Rohit took his time as wickets tumbled at regular intervals at the other end. He reached his century in 38th over of the innings. His first fifty took 71 balls and his second took only 43. These were signs that Australia ignored. Rohit was picking up and the storm was soon to be arrived and then it arrived.
Rohit continued to a hit a minimum of one boundary each over from there. The 45th over bowled by Nathan Coulter-Nile however helped Rohit get the hitting momentum.
The Hitman then hit Clint Mckay for two fours and one six in the next over and then in the 47th, Xavier Doherty paid the price of bowling too full to Rohit as he was smashed for 26 runs in that over, including three sixes and two fours.
He did not stop there. On the first ball of the last over of the innings, Rohit creamed McKay for a six over extra cover to bring up his first double century in ODIs. The second hundred took only 42 balls and that was a story in itself.
Rohit got out eventually but by then he had put India into driver's seat. His 209 helped India put up 383/6 and that was enough to beat Aussies by 57 runs and clinch the series as well.
