India lost the bilateral series against Australia 1-2, but ended the series on a high note as the Men in Blue beat the hosts by nine wickets to win the third One-Day. The series ended on a poetic note as Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who are probably playing their last series in Australia, stayed till the end and were the key contributors behind the win.
Virat Kohli scored an unbeaten 74, but Rohit Sharma stole the show with his brilliant century. The hitman brought up his 33rd ODI hundred and also won the player of the series award for a fifty in the 2nd ODI and a hundred in the recent one.
Further, it looked like a different Rohit Sharma, an upgraded version from what we have seen earlier. This time around, the hitman was under pressure to score runs to remain in contention for the 2027 ODI World Cup, but the right-handed batter silenced all his critics.
The 38-year-old worked on himself, lost around 10 kilos, and there was hunger in his eyes to score and stay in contention. Meanwhile, this article will compare Rohit's recent series with his last bilateral series against England and how he has refined himself.
Comparing Rohit's Australia tour and home series against England
Before the Champions Trophy, the home series against England was India's last bilateral series and let's look at Rohit's stats.
Criteria
vs Australia
vs England
Innings
3
3
Runs
202
122
Average
101
40.67
100/50
1/1
1/0
If we look at the England series, then the hitman had scored a century, but besides that there were just two single-digit scores. Whereas, in the Australia series, Rohit showed consistency. Meanwhile, let's look how he has redefined his game.
1. Changed His powerplay game to bring consistency
Rohit's shot control vs Australia and England
Criteria
vs Australia
vs England
1st ODI
64%
60%
2nd ODI
60%
89%
3rd ODI
84%
58%
Prior to Australia series, Rohit had earned the reputation to go all guns blazing in the powerplay where he would set the perfect platform and then throw his wicket away in the name of aggression.
The approach did great for the team as the rest of the batters had a great total on the board to take it forward, but it was harmful for Rohit personally as he was shying away from big totals. Although, in the Australia series, the hitman worked on himself and adopted a Test-like approach.
The 38-year-old gave respect to good deliveries and didn't rush to play his game. As seen in the 2nd ODI, despite initial struggles, Rohit didn't throw his wicket away and played a lot of dot balls. In fact it was that scratchy knock that helped the hitman gain confidence and play his natural game in the 3rd ODI.
Even in the century runs knock, Rohit was nowhere to be dancing down the track but play sensible cricket and the result - a player of the series trophy after the match. Let's compare Rohit's shot control ratio vs England and Australia.
2. Added strike rotation to his game
One major addition to Rohit's game has been rotating the strike. Earlier, the hitman relied on boundaries, but now he has mixed his game with boundaries as well as running between the wickets.
If we look at the Australia series, then in the 3rd ODI, where Rohit slammed the hundred, the hitman scored 70 runs by boundaries, whereas 49 of his runs came via runnings, which is 58%.
Even in the 2nd ODI, Rohit scored a brilliant 73 and had a boundary percentage of 55% and took 33 runs by running between the wickets.
3. Working on his body, looks more sharp than ever
The most-important thing that Rohit has worked on is his body. Earlier, he was trolled for being overweight, which also affected him mentally. However, in his time off, the hitman worked with Abhishek Nayar and shed 10-12 kilos off his body and looks sharper than ever.
Being more fitter has helped Rohit run better between the wickets and also helps him score daddy hundreds as he has delayed the fatigue kicking in.
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Rohit Sharma century - (Source :AFP)
