Men’s ODI WC: It’s unfortunate that we don’t give Rohit Sharma enough credit; he is an ODI beast, says Aakash Chopra

New Delhi:  After Rohit Sharma’s scintillating record-breaking century propelled India to eight-wicket win over Afghanistan in 2023 Men’s ODI World Cup, former opener Aakash Chopra felt the right-handed opener isn’t given enough credit and called him “an ODI beast.”

At the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday, Rohit reached his century in just 63 balls, setting the record for fastest century by an India player at a Men’s Cricket World Cup, breaking a 40-year record set by the legendary Kapil Dev 40 years ago.

Rohit’s 131 off 84 balls, also his 31st century in the format, saw him become the player with the most centuries in ODI World Cup history, breaking Sachin Tendulkar’s long-standing world record of six tons.

“My focus for the chase was purely on Ishan Kishan. I thought that he played decently, was not the best but tried to hold his own, while he let the captain do all the heavy lifting on the other end. Rohit Sharma has made seven centuries in only nineteen games in all editions of the World Cup – what a player!”

“He made those sixes look too easy. It is unfortunate that we don’t give him enough credit – Rohit Sharma is an ODI beast. Whenever he puts up a monstrous performance, the match is always one-sided,” said Chopra on JioCinema’s daily sports show ‘#AAKASHVANI’.

Apart from Rohit, fast-bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was the standout bowler for India on a flat pitch, being effective in both power-play and death overs to end with figures of 4-39 in 10 overs, also his best figures in the Men’s Cricket World Cup.

“As we know, out of all the pitches Kotla’s is the flattest but then comes in Boom Boom Bumrah! First, he got the wicket of Ibrahim Zadran with the new ball. Hashmatullah Shahidi and Azmatullah Omarzai had a decent partnership which was starting to look dangerous, and it almost looked like they would reach the 300 mark.”

“I also want to point out that Bumrah got four wickets on a road-like pitch and restricted Afghanistan’s total to 270 – there is not one better than him across formats. Jasprit Bumrah is the best bowler in the world,” added Chopra.

With four points from winning their first two matches, India will next face arch-rivals Pakistan in a highly-anticipated World Cup clash at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday.

–IANS