A priceless moment between current skipper Rohit Sharma and former captain Virat Kohli during India vs New Zealand ODI in Indore set the internet ablaze on Tuesday.
The India skipper finally ended his 1101-day century drought in ODIs at the Holkar Stadium.
Rohit Sharma's 101-run innings off 85 deliveries was his first international hundred across formats after 509 days and his first in ODIs since January 2020.
The last time Rohit Sharma made a century in any format of international cricket was in September 2021 when he reached the three-figure mark in the Oval Test against England. Since then, he had gone 53 innings without a ton, making 1555 runs with 12 fifties.
Laced by nine fours and six sixes, Rohit Sharma raced through to the landmark at the Holkar Stadium, finally bringing an end to his three-year wait for a 50-over hundred.
En route to his ton against the Tom Lathan-led side, the India captain also equaled Australian legend Ricky Ponting's record of 30 ODI hundreds in Indore.
With Rohit Sharma joining Ricky Ponting to become the third-highest century scorer in ODIs, only two men stand ahead of him – Sachin Tendulkar (49) and Virat Kohli (46).
Alongside Ricky Ponting, Rohit Sharma now is the joint third-highest century-scorer in One-Day Internationals.
After Rohit Sharma got dismissed for 101 and headed towards the Indian dressing room, he was congratulated by the talismanic Virat Kohli on his way to the pitch. The duo then shared a good laugh as Virat Kohli joined in the celebrations of his captain's hundred.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) captured Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli's special moment and shared it on social media, with the caption on Twitter reading, “These Two.” The post instantly went viral on the microblogging platform.
These Two ❤️
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/ojTz5RqWZf#TeamIndia | #INDvNZ | @ImRo45 | @imVkohli | @mastercardindia pic.twitter.com/hoDGwmPKRX
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 24, 2023
Even years after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's cricketing careers, reports of their alleged rift continue to haunt Indian cricket.
The rumors about sourness in their relations started in 2018 that ultimately picked up at the end of 2021 when Virat Kohli stepped down from India's T20I captaincy and Rohit Sharma was named the white-ball skipper of the national side.
Even the two stalwarts and the team management, including former coach Ravi Shastri, have repeatedly dismissed these rumors.
Speaking about the third and final ODI against New Zealand, Team India became the No.1 ODI side in the world following their 3-0 whitewash of the Kiwis.
Rohit Sharma and opener Shubman Gill were the heroes of the team's comfortable 90-run win as the two not only scored centuries but were also involved in a 212-run partnership for the opening wicket.
Continuing his outstanding form in the 50-over format, Shubman Gill smashed his second ton in the series against the Black Caps following his blistering double hundred in the first match in Hyderabad last week.
For the unversed, this was Shubman Gill's third three-figure score in his last four ODIs after hitting 116 against Sri Lanka in the final ODI and 208 against the Kiwis in the series opener.
En route to his explosive innings of 112 off 78 balls, Shubman Gill matched Babar Azam's record of scoring the most runs in a three-match ODI series.
With scores of 208, 40, and 112, the 23-year-old cricketer notched 360 runs in three games against the Tom Latham-led side, thus putting himself on par with Babar Azam.
On his part, Babar Azam had scored the same amount of runs against the West Indies in 2016.
Among other records that Shubman Gill created in Madhya Pradesh was going past Shikhar Dhawan's feat to become the fastest to four centuries in ODIs. While Shikhar Dhawan needed 24 knocks to get there, the Fazilka-born player achieved it in 21 innings.
Shubman Gill bettered Virat Kohli to become the first Indian to score at least 300 runs in a three-match ODI bilateral series. Previously, Virat Kohli held the record with his tally of 283 runs against Sri Lanka earlier this month.
Gill was aggressive from the outset, taking the New Zealand bowlers on from ball one. With loads of runs behind him in recent memory, the youngster started hitting the ball with brute force right from the start of the Indian innings, taking almost every New Zealand bowler to the cleaners.
Carrying on with his splendid run, the India batter cruised to his half-century in just 33 deliveries, before reaching his fourth ODI hundred sometime later. His knock of 112 was laced with 13 boundaries and five huge sixes.
Though Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill centuries laid the foundation of Team India’s dominant win at the Holkar Stadium, it was Shardul Thakur who made it certain with his performances with both bat and ball.
The 31-year-old struck a crucial 25 off 17 deliveries at the tail-end of the Indian innings when the Men in Blue were losing wickets in a heap.
He was even more impressive with the ball, picking up 3/45 in six overs, including the big wicket of New Zealand skipper Tom Latham for a duck in the 26th over.
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