Rohit Sharma explains his approach during match-winning century in Cuttack ODI: 'I broke it down to pieces'

India captain Rohit Sharma silenced his critics with a sparkling century in the second ODI against England in Cuttack on Sunday, helping the Men in Blue clinch the three-match series with a game to spare. After getting dismissed for 2 in the ODI series opener in Nagpur, the ‘Hitman’ was back among the runs with a knock of 119 off 90 balls that contained 12 fours and seven sixes and helped India chase down the competitive 305-run target set by the Englishmen with more than five overs to spare, despite a wobble close to the finish line.

During the post-match presentation ceremony in which he received the Player of the Match award, Rohit revealed he “really enjoyed” batting at the Barabati Stadium on Sunday and also explained the method with which he overpowered the English bowlers.

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“It was good and really enjoyed being out there, scoring some runs for the team. Important game with the series on the line but I broke it down to pieces about how I wanted to bat. Longer than T20s and shorter than Tests and I wanted to break it down. I wanted to bat as deep as possible and that was my focus.

“Looking at the pitch - when you play on black soil, it tends to skid on a bit and you have to show the full face of the bat initially. Then they bowled into the body and kept it on the stumps and that’s where I prepared my plan and tried to access the gaps.

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Rohit laid the foundation for the comfortable victory for the hosts with two crucial partnerships – the first one with opener Shubman Gill that was worth 136 and the other one with Nagpur hero Shreyas Iyer that was worth 70. Gill replaced Yashasvi Jaiswal as Rohit’s opening partner after Virat Kohli returned to the XI after missing the series opener due to injury, with Iyer moving to the No 4 slot.

“Got very good support from Gill and Shreyas as well. Enjoy batting with Gill. Very classy player and doesn’t seem to get overawed by the situation and the numbers are there as well, if I’m not wrong, for Gill.,” Rohit added.

Rohit’s 32nd century on Sunday took him past Australian batting great and former captain Ricky Ponting in the list of batters with most ODI centuries. Only Virat Kohli (50), who was dismissed for 5 on Sunday, and Sachin Tendulkar (49) have scored more ODI hundreds than the 37-year-old Mumbaikar.