Indian opener Rohit Sharma revealed that his animated celebration was for himself after the hosts registered an eight-wicket win against the West Indies at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati on Wednesday. After reaching his 35th ODI century, Rohit did an animated jog with high knees, showing how relieved he was after getting to the personal milestone.
It was palpable that the hundred meant a lot to Rohit, whose place has been under scrutiny in the recent past. Rohit went on to score a fine knock of 101 runs off just 75 balls, including 10 fours and six maximums in his innings.
“I’ll keep that celebration for myself. Some things are just meant to be with you, and it’s not to be shared. So that was for me,” Rohit said after the game.
Rohit revealed Ravindra Jadeja wanted him to slide and jump but the veteran didn’t take the suggestion as he was already exhausted in humid conditions.
“[Jadeja] wanted me to slide and jump and celebrate but after fifty overs of fielding and batting so much, I was never going to do that.”
Rohit revealed that they were trying to play according to the merit of the ball and praised Gill for scoring a fine double century.
“The wicket was good; we just wanted to continue batting. We were not thinking about the scoreboard. We were trying to play the merit of the ball. We were trying to stitch a partnership. Gill was fantastic on the other end. He was in control of his batting. To see him stay not out was fantastic to see as well.”
The veteran added that playing for long time was down to concentration and he tried to make the most of his experience.
“It comes down to concentration. You have to keep telling yourself to not throw it away. I wanted to use my experience. We knew the pitch was good and we needed big runs from the top order, and that’s exactly what happened, and we had a very good partnership at the top, and it pretty much sealed the game for us.”
The third ODI between India and the West Indies will be played at New Chandigarh on Saturday.
