India needed to post a huge total on the board in which is a must-win game for them at Vizag, particularly after their loss in the first ODI against the West Indies in Chennai.
The Indian openers Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul raised their hands to respond well when it was most required. And it mattered a lot.
Both expressed themselves energetically in the match and struck powerful centuries. Their tons surprised opposition’s bowling and put India on course for a mammoth score.
It all started with the Caribbean captain Kieron Pollard winning the toss and opting to bowl as he did in the series opener.
Shivam Dube was rested and Shardul Thakur was brought in his place to strengthen their bowling attack.
The openers started dispatching the ball in several directions of the field. KL Rahul was the first to play some lovely cover drives to win the hearts of a large crowd.
Between them, there were some calling problems at times and at one stage Rohit was almost run-out.
But due to lack of awareness of West Indies, he was safe and for this India’s vice-captain made them pay.
Rahul slows down while Rohit Sharma takes over
After getting off to a quickfire start, KL Rahul slowed down a bit.
Rohit was hitting each ball in his zone above the ground. He carried on and went on to complete his 28th ODI century.
With a brilliant six and a four, he got into the 90s below the ground off Kharry Pierre and then to reach the three-figure, he calmly took a single.
In the bargain, Rohit also became the first player ever to score 10 international centuries in a calendar year.
Rahul, later on, struggled to hit big shots but he didn’t give his wicket away and was continuing to change strike.
He also went to get his third ODI century with an awesome boundary on the leg-side.
Both added 227 runs for the opening wicket before Rahul got out to Alzarri Joseph and to everyone’s shock, Virat Kohli was also out without scoring a single run.
India will be looking to score 350 approximately to challenge the visitors.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Rohit Sharma's Innings Progression in ODIs – Strike Rate
1-50 runs : 76.4
51-100 runs : 108.2
101-150 runs : 151.0
151+ runs : 256.4Rohit paces his innings exceptionally well as he goes past each 50 run landmark in the format.#INDvWI
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) December 18, 2019
Most ODI 100s in a calendar year:
9 – Tendulkar, 1998 (33 inns)
7 – Ganguly, 2000 (32)
7 – Warner, 2016 (23)
7* – ROHIT, 2019 (26)#IndvWI— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) December 18, 2019
Most ODI 100s in a calendar year:
9 – Tendulkar, 1998 (33 inns)
7 – Ganguly, 2000 (32)
7 – Warner, 2016 (23)
7* – ROHIT, 2019 (26)#IndvWI— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) December 18, 2019
Saw an interesting statistic: Rohit Sharma has now scored more ODI 100s than Virat Kohli since 2017. 18 & 17 respectively. Didn't notice this. #INDvWI
— Trendulkar (@Trendulkar) December 18, 2019
In 2019, Rohit Sharma has now scored centuries against:
– Australia
– South Africa
– Pakistan
– England
– Bangladesh
– Sri Lanka
– West Indies#INDvWI pic.twitter.com/DfPUjRRs3e— bet365 (@bet365) December 18, 2019
Rohit Sharma is playing the West Indies and so he plays the falling shot! Except it is over extra cover for six!!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 18, 2019
Most ODI tons
49 Sachin Tendulkar
43 Virat Kohli
30 Ricky Ponting
28 ROHIT SHARMA
28 Sanath Jayasuriya #INDvWI #INDvsWI— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) December 18, 2019
💯 for KL Rahul 💪
Can India reach a score above 350?#INDvWI pic.twitter.com/9WkGuk80Xs
— ICC (@ICC) December 18, 2019
CONGRATULATION #KLRahul for your brilliant Century.#INDvsWI pic.twitter.com/7Ytf3bnIxf
— Doordarshan National (@DDNational) December 18, 2019
KL Rahul smashes his third ODI century in 102 balls. He’s been a treat to watch today and a few shots he played were mind boggling. Hope these are the signs of the things to come for him as far as his limited overs’ career is concerned.#INDvWI
— Karnataka Ranji Team║ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ರಣಜಿ ತಂಡ (@RanjiKarnataka) December 18, 2019
