Rohit Sharma made his international debut in June 2007, but it was after 275 limited over games he scored his first hundred for India in his home city Mumbai on Monday. The stylish right-hander smashed 162 in his 192nd ODI against West Indies to set up 224-run win for India at Brabourne stadium. He however had scored a Test hundred in 2013 at Wankhede Stadium in his first and the only Test in the city.
The hit-man set the fireworks at Brabourne reminding us of Virender Sehwag who last time set the stadium on fire in the previous international match here. In the third Test against Sri Lanka in 2009, Sehwag hammered 293 to power India to 726 for 9 which included 284 in a single day. India went on to win the innings by 24 runs to become No 1 side in Tests for the first time.
Brabourne previously played host to ODIs during the ICC Champions Trophy in 2006 including the final. It was the venue for the first Twenty20 International played in India in October 2007. Rohit played that Twenty20 international, but didn’t get to bat.
He got to bat for the first time at Cricket Club of India on Monday and he made it memorable with a big knock.
The 31-year-old Indian vice captain had played many knocks at the venue before, including first Twenty20 hundred by any Indian in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy game (2007) and an unbeaten triple century during 2009-10 Ranji Trophy season against Gujarat.
“I had a lot of opportunities to play here and have done well, I followed the same routine. I understand the pitch well and was confident going into the match. I enjoy batting here as it is a good pitch and you get value for your shots due to fast outfield. You don’t have to hit too hard, just good timing, find the gaps and it will find the boundary,” he said.
The opening batsman who turned up for eventual champions Mumbai in the quarter-final and semi-final of the Vijay Hazare Trophy recently, praised the ground staff for preparing a good surface despite hosting an international game after a gap of nine years.
“CCI always been a high scoring ground. If you look closely at the game (on Monday), the wicket was offering bowlers swing as well as seam movement.Shikhar (Dhawan) and I were not finding it easy early on as the ball was doing little bit. You need to spend some time on that wicket to get used to it. There was something on offer for both the bat and the ball. It is one of the best pitches I have played in India,” he signed off.
