IND vs ENG: Rohit Sharma replicates MS Dhoni, sets another massive captaincy record as India outwit England in 3rd ODI
Chasing 260 to win the series-deciding third ODI, India reached their target with five wickets in hand and 47 balls to spare.
A blistering century by Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya's all-round heroics guided India to a five-wicket win in the third and final ODI against England at Old Trafford. With a comprehensive victory in the series decider, the visiting side also recorded a 2-1 series success against the reigning 50-over world champions. Led by Rohit Sharma, India became just the third side to win an ODI series away to England since 2015. They had even claimed the preceding T20I series by a 2-1 margin.
With the white-ball series triumph, Rohit became the first Indian captain to win both ODI and T20I series in England. India's first ODI series win was under Mohammad Azharuddin in 1990 before MS Dhoni emulated the feat in 2014. Rohit has now joined the elite panel comprising the two former skippers. He is now the third Indian captain to win the ODI bilateral series in England.
Rohit also flaunts an impressive 81.25 win per cent as the India captain in ODI cricket. His percentages in T20I and Test format are 83.87 and 100, respectively.
India men's captain winning an ODI series in England
Mohd. Azharuddin (1990)
MS Dhoni (2014)
Rohit Sharma (2022)*
During the T20I series prior to the 50-over duel, Rohit became the only captain in the history of T20 cricket to have won 14 matches in a row, extending his earlier run of 13 wins on the trot. He began the 14-match winning streak with the series against Bangladesh, and went on to defeat New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka and England.
A delighted Rohit said that the team will look to develop the bench strength in the lead-up to this year's World T20 in Australia. "We came here and wanted to achieve something as a group in white-ball cricket and I thought that we achieved a fair bit," he said at the presentation ceremony.
"We want to create bench strength as injuries are bound to happen. Have got some solid guys who will get their opportunity in the West Indies," he added.
Rohit also lauded Pant and Hardik for their showing. The two youngsters combined when India were reeling at 72/4. They put on 133 in 19 overs to take the game away from the hosts.
"It was a good pitch, but we do understand it's not going to be easy if we lose wickets upfront. The positive side of it, these guys haven't batted much in the middle overs. Today we got to see that with Hardik and Rishabh. At no point we felt they were panicking," said the India skipper.
Hardik made 71 after taking career-best figures of 4-24, while Pant hit an unbeaten 125 and finished the chase with a reverse hit off Joe Root in the 43rd over, helping India chase down 260 with 7.5 overs to spare.
"Hopefully I will remember this for the rest of my life," said Pant, who claimed the player-of-the-match trophy. "You always aspire to play like this when your team is in trouble."
