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New Delhi: Rohit Sharma, who is leading Team India in the absence of Virat Kohli, dedicated his third double century to his wife Ritika Sajdeh on the occasion of their second marriage anniversary today. Sharma smashed unbeatable 208 against Sri Lanka to help India win the second ODI by 141 runs and level the three-match series 1-1.
“I’m happy my wife is here with me on this special day. I know she would have liked this gift from me. She has been my strength. She has always been there for me. You go through so much stress in this sport, and having them around is always special,” Rohit said at the post-match press conference.
“This is our second anniversary, but more than that, we won the game. We were determined to do the right things in the middle, and right till the end, we did that. As a group, we are looking forward to Vizag,” he said.
It was hard to believe that someone completing his first hundred before the start of the back 10 would be able to reach his double hundred by the end but Sharma did that against all the odds.
“If I am not wrong, the first 100 I got was around the 38th or 39th over. So I was telling myself, if I have got this far, I am not going to get out. I was only looking to keep my shape and hit through the line. It was the same thing I did in my first two 200s. I started off pretty slow then too,” Rohit said after his record third double hundred.
Asked to rate his three double ODI centuries, Rohit refused to pick one.
“Very difficult to pick one. All three came at crucial times. 264 is obviously very close to me. I’ve said it many times, but I honestly cannot pick one.
“The Australia one was a decider, the Sri Lanka 264 – I came back after a three-month layoff after a big injury, and this one also – after a humiliating loss, we wanted to come back as a team, as a batting unit especially,” he said.
The stand-in skipper is happy because of the turnaround that happened.
“It was a great day. Winning the game was important for me and the team after that loss in Dharamsala. I can keep talking about the batting that we did today, right from the start, with Shikhar (Dhawan) giving us a brilliant start, and Shreyas Iyer – it didn’t look like he was only playing his second ODI,” Rohit said.
“There was dew later, so it was important to get that big total.
Sri Lanka captain Thisara Perera rued the below-par performance of his bowling unit and said no plans worked for them against Rohit today.
“Unfortunately our bowling didn’t click. Especially, Rohit batted really well. That is cricket. We will take positives from this match and flush out the negatives,” he said.
“We had a Plan A and B and C as well – it didn’t click. That is why I said Rohit batted really well. If we want to chase this kind of score, we need a good start, and middle order as well.
“Both parts didn’t click, but Angelo (Mathews) did well in the batting part. We will come back well in the third ODI,” Perera said. (With PTI inputs)
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