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A supporter of Rohit Sharma made a bold prediction for the India captain's batting performances in the forthcoming ODI World Cup.
Rohit Sharma has scored plenty of fifties in recent matches. But he has failed in converting those half-centuries into tons.
In this context, a fan of the ‘Hitman' stated that he wasn't expecting three-figure scores from him in the World Cup because Rohit Sharma was focusing on winning the competition.
“I don't expect any century from Rohit Sharma in this World Cup, even when he is in golden form. Because I know him, he cares literally zero about personal records and milestones, he will play the entire World Cup just in the same intent full approach. He only wants World Cup,” the India skipper's admirer wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Earlier this week, Rohit Sharma scripted history in the third ODI against Australia in Rajkot.
Rohit Sharma began India's run chase explosively, smashing a quickfire 81 off 57 balls after Australia won the toss and posted 352/7 on the board.
Rohit Sharma's splendid innings included five boundaries and six sixes.
As the Nagpur-born cricketer's knock featured six maximums, Rohit Sharma shattered the record for most sixes in a single nation. Currently, he has 257 sixes to his name in India.
Previously, this record was with New Zealand opener Martin Guptill, who struck 256 sixes in his home country.
The other men who have smashed more than 200 sixes in a single country are Martin Guptill's New Zealand colleague Brendon McCullum (230) and Chris Gayle (228).
During his knock, Rohit Sharma also became the quickest to reach the landmark of 550 sixes across formats in international cricket.
While West Indies great Chris Gayle required 548 essays to accomplish the milestone, Rohit Sharma took only 471 innings to get there.
However, Chris Gayle still holds the record for hitting the maximum sixes in international cricket, having smoked 553 during his illustrious career. Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma follows him close behind with 551 sixes.
Among other milestones Rohit Sharma achieved in Rajkot was becoming the fifth Indian batter to score a half-century in the initial ten overs of a 50-over contest.
Before Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, and Robin Uthappa had attained the feat in One-Day Internationals.
Also, Rohit Sharma is the first batter to smash five sixes against the Australian's frontline bowling line-up featuring Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, and Josh Hazlewood.
Rohit Sharma's brilliant batting display couldn't save India from losing the match in Gujarat as the hosts were bowled out for 286 in 49.4 overs, handing the Australians a comfortable 66-run victory.
India's defeat did not make any difference to the series' outcome as the Men in Blue had already won it after beating the Kangaroos in the first two games in Indore and Mohali.
India's loss in the final ODI against Australia did not deter Rohit Sharma from praising his team's performance in the last four weeks.
During this period, India won the Asia Cup after registering comprehensive victories over Sri Lanka and Pakistan in Colombo.
India's Asia Cup triumph was followed by a convincing ODI series win over Australia.
Meanwhile, India's final 15-men squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup saw the dramatic entry of veteran off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin on Thursday.
Ravichandran Ashwin got his opportunity at the expense of the injured Axar Patel.
But his inclusion in India's ODI World Cup squad in place of the injured Axar Patel led to a wild conspiracy theory by an Indian cricket pundit.
According to the bombshell claim made by cricket columnist Ayaz Memon, Indian captain Rohit Sharma was aware of Axar Patel's situation for multiple weeks.
He even knew that the Gujarat cricketer would not be fit for the World Cup, yet the Indian team management continued to peddle lies about Axar Patel's fitness.
Additionally, the Team India think tank comprising Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid realized that three left-arm spinners were just too many, and they needed someone of Ravichandran Ashwin's experience in the line-up.
“Injured Axar Patel out of WC, replaced by Ashwin. This was approved some weeks back but team management shrewdly threw everyone off the scent. 3 left arm spinners in squad was one too many. Also, no one's performed better on Indian pitches than Ash. Team looks complete now,” Ayaz Memon said in a social media post.
Importantly, Axar Patel has an average of 30 and a strike rate of 106.01 with the bat since the beginning of 2022. Plus, he has been highly effective with the ball, taking 14 wickets during the same period. Yet, he missed the World Cup ticket because of an injury he suffered only a fortnight ago.
Axar Patel suffered a quadriceps injury during India's match against Bangladesh in the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka earlier this month.
The left-arm orthodox bowler was sent to the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru to expedite his recovery but failed to get fit for the tournament.
Several fans and cricket pundits shared their thoughts about Axar Patel's misfortune.
“It was always going to be Ashwin after those two games against Australia. Really feel for Axar Patel and hopefully, he will get the big stage another day. India have preferred to go in with more bowling skill than a more all-round package. If Hardik is bowling well, I see Ashwin in the first choice eleven,” cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle tweeted.
India's World Cup squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Hardik Pandya (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav.
