Rohit Sharma hints at improvement despite India’s ODI clean sweep against England: ‘Certain things we are looking at’

India on Wednesday defeated England by 142 runs in the third ODI of their three-match series at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium. Shubman Gill played a brilliant innings of 112 runs to help India post a mammoth total of 356 runs on the board. He received help from Virat Kohli (52), Shreyas Iyer (78), and KL Rahul (40), who also contributed significantly to India’s total.

Thanks to the victory in the third ODI, India handed England a 3-0 clean sweep in the series. This is also India’s second-biggest win against England in ODIs in terms of runs. After the match, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma expressed his satisfaction with the team’s performance, emphasizing how well they adapted to different situations throughout the series.

“It’s very, very pleasing. We knew there would be challenges, we came out well, responding to whatever was thrown at us. Credit to the bowler (Wood for his second-ball dismissal), the bowler is there to get you out, sometimes you are lucky that it misses the bat. I just nicked the ball second-ball, and couldn’t have done anything about that,” Rohit said after the match.

Rohit Sharma: There’s room for improvement

Despite the dominant results, Rohit hinted at areas of improvement within the squad but refrained from discussing specifics publicly.

“I don’t see there was anything that we did wrong in this series. There are certain things we are looking at but I am not going to stand here and discuss about it. The players are comfortable having those chats. It is our job to keep some consistency within the squad and the communication is clear. In terms of skills, nothing I can discuss. Obviously, a champion team wants to get better every game and move forward,” he added.

India’s batting approach in ODIs has undergone a transformation, with players backing an aggressive mindset. Rohit credited the 2023 World Cup campaign for setting the template and stressed the importance of maintaining that approach.

“We were very happy with the score. There is a bit of freedom in the squad to go out there and play the way you are supposed to play. The World Cup was a perfect example of that and we want to continue to do that, and build on that. There will be times things will not fall in place, but that’s okay,” Rohit concluded.

Shubman Gill on his brilliant knock

Shubman Gill , who played a key role in India’s formidable total with a brilliant century, also reflected on his innings and the team’s approach to the game. Gill was named the Player of the Match for his superb knock.

“I was feeling good, this was one of my better knocks. The wickets was a bit tricky at the start, a bit for the fast bowlers so it’s satisfying. It was seaming, so the chat was to simple, to rotate the strike and not lose too many wickets in the powerplay, build on the momentum and take it from there. You are just reacting to what is coming to you, you are not thinking too much,” Shubman Gill said.

With this emphatic series win, India have now become favourites going into the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025, which is scheduled to begin in Pakistan and the UAE on 19 February. India’s opening game of the tournament is scheduled against Bangladesh in Dubai on 20 February. It will be interesting to see if India can carry this momentum to the marquee ICC event.