India skipper Rohit Sharma finally ended his ODI century drought when he scored his 30th ODI century against New Zealand in the 3rd ODI in Indore on January 24. This is Rohit’s first ODI century after 3 years. He scored his last ODI hundred on January 19, 2020, against Australia at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. This is also Rohit’s first 100 in any format of the game since his match-winning 127 against England on September 2021 at the Oval.
With his 30th ODI hundred, Rohit Sharma has now equaled Ricky Ponting in the list of most ODI hundreds. Ponting has 30 ODI centuries to his name from 365 ODI innings. Rohit has equaled the Australian great in 234 ODI innings. Both Rohit Sharma and Ricky Ponting are now joint-third in the list of most hundreds in ODIs. Sachin Tendulkar with 49 ODI centuries is leading the list currently and is being chased closely by Virat Kohli, who has 46.
Before this century, a lot of questions were being raised concerning Rohit’s form. There were a lot of discussions as to why he was not able to convert his half-centuries to daddy hundreds, for which he is renowned. With this knock, he has reminded his fans and everyone that he is back in form. Rohit’s century bodes well for India as the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2023 is scheduled in February-March followed by the big event in October-November – the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup.