 "Rohit Sharma managed a fighting fifty in Adelaide ODI after making a slow start. Image: AP")
Rohit Sharma’s hard-fought fifty in the second India-Australia ODI at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday was well acknowledged by Irfan Pathan and fans as they hailed the ‘Hitman’ for steadying the Men In Blue’s innings after early jitters. India lost captain Shubman Gill and Virat Kohli in the seventh over, suffering a horrific start in the must-win clash.
While Gill could only score nine runs, Kohli was dismissed for a second consecutive duck, his first in ODIs . Rohit was also guilty of making a very slow start to his innings as he was on eight off 28 balls when two wickets fell from the other end.
Pathan, fans hail Rohit after latest fifty
However, he managed to recover nicely, scoring 73 off 97 balls and smashing two sixes besides seven fours. He was dismissed by Mitchell Starc after Josh Hazlewood pocketed his poorly timed pull shot at fine leg.
Rohit clearly would have wanted to play much longer, but the fifty must have released some pressure after he got out on eight in the Perth ODI. Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan feels that the latest knock would give some “much-needed” confidence to the former captain.
“Never seen Rohit sharma got beaten or struggled so much but this half century should give him much needed confidence,” Pathan wrote on X.
Popular cricket handle Cric Crazy Johns hailed Rohit’s knock as a “hardworking” innings, as he termed him an all-time great.
“WELL PLAYED, ROHIT SHARMA - 73 runs from 97 balls, A hardworking innings on a tough pitch, What a player in ODIs, he is one of the all time great,” he wrote on X.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAnother popular cricket hand of Mufaddal Vohra highlighted how the Adelaide crowd gave a standing ovation to Rohit for his gritty knock.
Rohit vs Kohli fan war breaks out on social media
Also, unsurprisingly, a fan war broke out on X as Rohit made a fifty and Kohli got out on duck. A Rohit fan took a dig at Kohli while praising Rohit for his fifty.
“Rohit sharma is more dedicated and passionate about his career in the late 30s than Some Family man he loses his weight to prolong career, got removed from odi captaincy didn’t cry came back scoring runs Bro is literally doing everything possible for his dream ODI World Cup,” the fan said.
Meanwhile, a Kohli fan slammed Rohit for his strike of 75 as he pointed out that Virat Kohli would have copped a lot of criticism for such a display.
“Rohit Sharma built the kind of innings which Virat Kohli has done time and again during critical situations in important matches. Au contraire, had this been Kohli instead of Rohit playing at 68 in 91 balls toxic ungrateful fans would have been at his throat for slow strike rate,” he pointed out.