Under pressure with questions over form and mounting retirement speculations, skipper Rohit Sharma silenced it all with a vintage 32nd century, firing India to a dominant four-wicket series-clinching victory over England in the second ODI, here on Sunday.Opting to bat on a belter, England were bowled out for 304 in 49.5 overs with left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja (3/35) continuing his stranglehold over the visitors.The 37-year-old Indian skipper made the chase a lopsided affair, returning to his World Cup 2023 best with impeccable timing and effortless strokeplay en route to his 90-ball 119—his century No. 32 in ODIs that came just in time ahead of the Champions Trophy in less than two weeks.His 90-ball masterclass, studded with seven sixes and 12 fours, set the tone as India cruised to the target in 44.3 overs to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead going into the final ODI in Ahmedabad on Wednesday.Shubman Gill also made a fluent 60 off 52 balls (9x4, 1x6), but it felt overshadowed in comparison to Rohit in their solid opening partnership of 136 runs—their sixth century-plus stand together.Back after missing out on the Nagpur ODI due to a swollen knee, star batter Virat Kohli (5) fell cheaply, edging an Adil Rashid leg-break. Rashid has now dismissed Kohli four times in ODIs.Rohit then had a fruitful 70-run stand with Shreyas Iyer (44) before he was dismissed off a full toss, with Rashid taking a fine backward running catch.Iyer soon departed following a runout, while KL Rahul (10) and Hardik Pandya (10) also fell cheaply.But there was hardly any run-rate pressure, and Axar Patel (41 not out) held his ground as he, along with Ravindra Jadeja (11 not out), completed the formalities with 33 balls to spare.Rohit’s knock also saw him surpass Rahul Dravid’s 10,889 runs (now at 10,987) to enter the top-10 ODI run-scorers’ list. He now requires 13 runs to complete 11,000 ODI runs.His pull shots had precision, his cuts carried flair, and there were no mishits. He even unleashed a cool reverse sweep off Rashid, pure dominance written in his innings.He signalled his intent early, charging down to Gus Atkinson for a four before flicking a six over mid-wicket with ease, displaying his signature style.Against Saqib Mahmood, he opened the bat face to loft a stunning six over cover as he seemed to have regained his mojo.A 35-minute floodlight failure when Rohit was on 29 couldn’t disrupt his rhythm.Resuming with the same intensity, he glanced Mahmood for a fine boundary and then took charge of Mark Wood’s 140-plus deliveries with disdain.Luck also played its part—on 36, he survived an LBW call against Wood on the umpire’s call, with the ball clipping the top of the leg stump.The very next delivery, he responded in style, launching an over-pitched delivery over mid-on for a six as he raced to a 30-ball fifty.Against Rashid, he was equally assured, cutting and sweeping the leg-spinner for boundaries.He brought up his three figures in 76 balls, spanking Rashid over long-off—his first in 14 innings.This was also his second-fastest hundred, with his fastest being a 63-ball century against Afghanistan in the 2023 World Cup.
