Rohit Sharma scores a historic Lord’s century with Shardul Thakur’s bat

Rohit Sharma. (Source:JioHotstar)

Rohit Sharma produced one of his finest ODI innings to keep India alive in the chase during the third and final ODI against England at Lord’s on Sunday, July 19. While the former Indian skipper grabbed the headlines with a stunning century, it was another interesting detail that caught the attention of fans on social media.

During his breathtaking knock, few viewers noticed that Rohit was not using one of his regular bats. Instead, the opener was seen batting with a bat bearing the name of his Mumbai teammate, Shardul Thakur, embossed near the bottom.

The discovery quickly went viral as Rohit brought up a memorable hundred at the iconic venue. Rohit had endured a lean run coming into the series decider, failing to register a fifty-plus score in his previous eight ODI innings.

However, the veteran opener silenced his critics in style, taking the attack to England’s bowlers and reaching his century in just 84 balls. His knock not only kept India’s hopes alive in a daunting chase of 388, but also saw him script multiple records at the Home of Cricket.

The 39-year-old became the first Indian batter to score an ODI century at Lord’s, going past Sourav Ganguly’s previous highest score of 90 at the venue. He also registered his 34th ODI hundred, further cementing his place among the format’s all-time greats.

Rohit also recorded his eighth ODI century in England, the most by any visiting batter in a single country. Overall, only England’s Joe Root (10) has scored more ODI hundreds in England, while Marcus Trescothick also has eight.

The Indian captain also shared a brilliant 147-run opening partnership with Shubman Gill, the second-highest opening stand by India at Lord’s in ODIs. His century, which came off 84 deliveries, is now the third-fastest ODI hundred at Lord’s, behind only Jos Buttler (61 balls) and Clive Lloyd (82 balls).

Despite the retirement speculations, the legendary Indian batter kept his nerves and produced one of his finest knocks in recent years in this must-win encounter.

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