Amid growing speculation over his future in international cricket, Rohit responded in emphatic fashion. His magnificent innings featured 17 fours and five sixes as he initially settled in before launching a brutal assault on the England bowling attack.
England had posted a mammoth 387 for 3 after Ben Duckett’s brilliant 141 and valuable half-centuries from Jacob Bethell and Joe Root. India began the chase in commanding fashion, with Rohit and captain Shubman Gill putting together a 147-run opening partnership. Rohit led the charge, while Gill contributed 77 and Virat Kohli added 74.
However, a late collapse saw India fall 27 runs short of the target, handing England a 2-1 series victory.
Reflecting on the match, Rohit admitted he was disappointed with the result and felt India failed to deliver with the bat in the defeats at Cardiff and Lord’s after beginning the series strongly.
“I was a little disappointed with the result because I thought we were playing really good cricket. You know how we started in Birmingham—we played some really good cricket. We fell a little short at Cardiff with the bat, and here again, there was a massive total to chase. We tried everything we could with the bat but again fell 20-25 runs short,” Rohit said in a conversation with the BCCI.
The 38-year-old also urged patience with India’s bowling attack, pointing out that several players have limited ODI experience.
“When it comes to bowling, you have to understand these guys haven’t played a lot of ODI cricket. You have to give them some time. Hopefully, we can learn from this game and make sure that when we come across a similar situation, we try to better ourselves,” he added.
Rohit also spoke about his love for playing in England, highlighting the unique atmosphere and the challenge presented by conditions that often favour seam bowlers.
“I love playing in England. There’s no doubt about it. The atmosphere, the grounds and the pitches—you are challenged in different ways when you play here. As a cricketer, that’s what you want. You want to be challenged all the time. I had my time in the middle and I enjoyed it,” Rohit said.
The Mumbai batter has now become the highest-scoring overseas batter in ODIs played in England, with 1,603 runs in 30 innings at an average of 64.12. He also shares the record for the most ODI centuries by a batter in England, with eight hundreds alongside Marcus Trescothick.
