‘I broke it into pieces’; Rohit Sharma's honest admission after roaring back to form with century against England

Not thinking too much and breaking his game into small pieces worked for Rohit Sharma as the Indian captain returned to form with a match-winning hundred in the second ODI against England on Sunday in Cuttack. Having been under severe criticism since the New Zealand series at home in Tests, Rohit Sharma string of low scores became a concern recently.

With just 10 days to go for the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Rohit Sharma's hundred couldn't have come at a better time. Riding on Rohit Sharma's 119 off 90 balls, India chased down England's 304 to win the game by four wickets and also seal the three-match series 2-0.

“I broke it into pieces how I wanted to bat. It's a format that is longer than T20 cricket and a lot shorter than Tests,” said Rohit Sharma during the post-match presentation ceremony.

The 37-year-old Indian skipper made the chase a lopsided affair, returning to his World Cup 2023 best with impeccable timing and effortless strokeplay. In the process, Rohit Sharma (10,987) also surpassed Rahul Dravid’s 10,889 runs to enter the top-10 ODI run-scorers' list. He now requires 13 runs to complete 11,000 ODI runs.

Vintage Rohit Sharma on display

His pull shots had precision, his cuts carried flair, and there were no mishits. He even unleashed a cool reverse sweep off Adil Rashid, pure dominance written in his innings.

He signalled his intent early, charging down to Gus Atkinson for a four before flicking a six over mid-wicket with ease that had the Rohit-esque flair. Against Saqib Mahmood, he opened the bat face to loft a stunning six over cover as he seemed to have got his mojo back.

A 35-minute floodlight failure when Rohit Sharma was on 29 couldn't disrupt his rhythm. “I wanted to stay focused and bat as deep as possible. Then they were trying to bowl into the body and not give room so I prepared my plan as well. I accessed the gaps and obviously, I got good support from Shubman Gill and then Shreyas Iyer,” he added.

With the series already in pocket, India will play the final ODI against England in Ahmedabad on February 12.