IND vs NZ 2023: He has taken full command of the Indian batting since he started opening – Irfan Pathan hails Rohit Sharma

Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan showered praise on skipper Rohit Sharma after the team won the third ODI against New Zealand by 90 runs at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore on Tuesday. India clinched the series by 3-0 and climbed to the number one position in the ICC ODI rankings.

Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma played a fine knock of 101 runs off just 85 balls in the third game. Rohit added a gargantuan alliance of 212 runs with Shubman Gill for the opening alliance to lay down the perfect foundation for a big score.

Rohit had last scored his ODI century back in 2020 against Australia and he was able to finally break the deadlock of three years after scoring his 30th ODI hundred against the Kiwis. Rohit was batting well before this knock and Pathan added a century was always on the cards.

Irfan Pathan said on Star Sports, “He has taken full command of the Indian batting since he started opening, either through a good average or with the approach he has changed in the last one to one-and-a-half years – with a good strike rate. So he is continuously contributing. A century has come after three years and 10,000 runs will also come.”

“I am saying this from the first day when I was asked whether Rohit Sharma should play big knocks. I had full faith that it will come one day or the other because he was looking very good when he was batting.”

Pathan added Rohit always looked in good form even before scoring his hundred against New Zealand and thus the big runs from his blade were a matter of time.

“He was hitting shots on the up, playing the square cuts and pulls, and was looking extremely confident. When a batter is in form, the big knock definitely comes, you just have to wait for a little while. It might have taken three years but he is a great player.”

This was the 30th ODI century for Rohit Sharma as he equaled Ricky Ponting’s tally in the 50-overs version.

“He has equaled Ricky Ponting’s 30 ODI centuries. Even in his (Ponting’s) country, he (Rohit) has an average of around 53, which is a huge number, and has scored five hundreds also there. He has an average of 64 in England as well. So he has scored runs everywhere and we have seen him scoring runs in India regularly in any case.”

Rohit will look to continue the good form in the upcoming four-match Test series against Australia.