IND vs NZ 3rd ODI: India's captain Rohit Sharma on Tuesday ended his century drought when he smashed a scintillating hundred against New Zealand in the third ODI of the series in Indore. Sharma sent the Kiwi bowlers around the park as he raised his bat after smashing a 30th ODI ton.
Sharma smashed an ODI ton after 1100+ days
Notably, Rohit Sharma has scored an ODI ton after more than 1100 days. The Indian captain last scored a hundred on 19th January 2020 in a match against Australia in Bengaluru. Sharma hit his century against New Zealand in 83 balls. Sharma departed for 101 as Michael Bracewell bowled the Indian captain. In his 101-run knock, Sharma smashed nine fours and six maximums and finished the innings with a strike rate of 118.82.
Sharma equals Ricky Ponting's record
Meanwhile, Rohit Sharma has equalled Australian great Ricky Ponting's record in ODIs. He is joint-third in the list of most tons in ODI cricket, equal with Ponting. He now stands behind Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli. The 35-year-old Sharma has also scored his second fastest ODI hundred in 83 balls. His fastest ton is in 82 balls, that came against England in 2018.
Earlier, New Zealand won the toss and opted to bowl first. Tom Latham made one change as he brought in Jacob Duffy in place of Henry Shipley. Meanwhile, India's captain Rohit Sharma made two changes as Umran Malik and Yuzvendra Chahal are back in place of Siraj and Shami. Notably, the star spin pair is back in the team.
It has been a while since India played both Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav in the same Playing XI. The two last played together in an ODI game together way back in July 2021 when India faced Sri Lanka. Since, then mostly Chahal has featured in the team, while Kuldeep was warming the bench for a long time.
India's Playing XI:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Umran Malik
New Zealand's Playing XI:
Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (c & wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Blair Tickner
