There were times when anything over and above 250 made by a team was thought to be a winning total, but no one ever predicted in their wildest of dreams that an individual will cross 250 runs marks and that too in the limited-overs format.
This is what exactly happened in the fourth one-dayer at the Eden Gardens, when Rohit Sharma, who was making a comeback into the Indian team, rewrote the history books to score his second double-century in the ODIs and also made the highest individual score in ODIs.
Rohit was out of the team because of injury concerns since England tour but no one would have predicted that he will return in a stunning fashion. Even MS Dhoni, who is rested for the series, took time out to applaud the stunning innings of the Indian opener on Twitter.
The Mumbai batsman was at his brilliant best and smashed Virender Sehwag’s record of 219 runs record by making a 173-ball 264. In his world-record innings, Rohit smashed 33 fours, which is highest by a batsman in the one-day internationals.
“The fact that I went on to bat 50 overs was absolutely pleasing,” Rohit said. “I have been working on it. To bat as long as possible. Finally I managed that. That run-out of Virat was my mistake. Things like that happened, but not hard feelings there.”
“It was a crucial partnership we were building, and to lose him then was quite frustrating,” he added. “But I kept telling myself to keep on going. It’s going to be difficult to pick out one shot that stands out. I really cannot pick out one.”
“I will try my best to get to 300, but as of now I will take 264,” he concluded. “A lot of memories at Eden Gardens that will remain close to me. This one was really special.”
It was all Rohit Sharma when India batted as his stupendous innings overshadowed, and quite rightly, the fifty made by skipper Virat Kohli, who elected to bat first on the flat deck. And, the Eden Garden, celebrating its 150th anniversary, got the best possible gift.
Chasing a mammoth 405 was Mouth K2, Everest and Pidurutalagala to climb at once for the Lankan Lions and they faced to an embarrassing 153 runs defeat, despite skipper Angelo Mathews fighting fifty in the fourth one-dayer.
Pacer Umesh Yadav and all-rounder Stuart Binny gave the visitors early jolts by ripping through the top-order. Kusal Perera (0), Dinesh Chandimal (9), Mahela Jayawardena (3) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (34) all fell cheaply.
Mathews (75) and Lahiru Thirimanne, however, stitched a 118-run partnership for the fifth wicket, but Axar Patel ended the fighting effort of the former to put the final nail in the coffin. Thirimanne (57) also played well but was dismissed by Dhawal Kulkarni.
Kulkarni wrecked Lanka’s tail as the hosts were bundled for a mere 251 in 43.1 overs. The Mumbai medium-pacer picked wickets, while Umesh, Binny and Axar took two wickets apiece.
“It is embarrassing that we are not even competing,” Mathews said. “We lost our way in the last 20 overs. It is not acceptable. Our bowlers didn’t have any answers for them. To score 290 in the last 25 is unbelievable.”
“Nothing can be taken away from Rohit, though. Our fielding was terrible again,” he added. “We need to fix our problems. We need to get everything – batting, bowling and fielding – right.”
Team India after winning the fourth consecutive ODI against the Islanders is leading the five-match series 4-0. The final match of the series will be played in Ranchi on November 16 (Sunday).
