Rohit’s ability to stay consistent in ODIs questioned after masterful ton: ‘Kohli knows how physically draining…’
Feb 10, 2025 08:56 PM IST
Rohit Sharma scored a comeback century that was both clinical and exhilarating but Sanjay Manjrekar has questioned if he has the fitness to stay consistent
India captain Rohit Sharma was hardly able to buy a run throughout the 2024/25 Test season, in which he averaged a woeful 10.93 in as many as 15 innings. However, it never looked like his form had ever dipped in Cuttack as he took England’s bowlers for a merry ride in the second ODI on Sunday and smashed a masterful 119 in 90 balls to power India to a four-wicket win. However, former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has questioned if the 37-year-old India captain has the fitness to play innings like these consistently going forward.
India’s captain Rohit Sharma reacts after his dismissal during the second one-day international (ODI) cricket match between India and England at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack on February 9, 2025. (Photo by DIBYANGSHU SARKAR / AFP) / — IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – STRICTLY NO COMMERCIAL USE –(AFP)
Manjrekar said that while Rohit’s return to form is good news for India, he looked visibly drained towards the end of his knock. “You could see it took a lot out of him that inning. Fifty overs cricket can be physically very demanding for bowlers, fielders, and batters. Virat Kohli knows how physically draining it can be, and that is why his fitness level has allowed him to still get those hundreds by running the ones and twos,” Manjrekar said on ESPNcricinfo.
‘2019 and 2023 versions of Rohit Sharma both excellent for Indian cricket’
Popularly known as ‘Hitman’, Rohit was known for his tendency to accelerate wildly once he crossed 100 in ODI matches at his peak, which led to him scoring as many as three double centuries. In the last few years, however, he has changed his template to going hard from the beginning, which was crucial to India on their run to the 2023 World Cup final. While Rohit finished a calendar year with a strike rate above 100 in ODIs just once before 2021, He has gone at 114.22 in eight innings in 2022 and 117.07 in a whopping 27 ODIs in 2023. In 2024, he struck at 141.44 in three ODIs.
“Rohit Sharma had a different template where he didn’t have to run too much. It was amazing how he got his second double hundred. But at this stage of his career, when you watched him go through the whole process and get that big hundred, he wanted it. Whether he can do it day in and day out like he did in 2019, we will have to wait and see. I have my doubts. But both versions of Rohit Sharma 2019 and 2023 are excellent for Indian cricket,” said Manjrekar.