Rohit Sharma said he remains unaffected by criticism surrounding his form, insisting that external “noise” has never influenced his approach after responding with a magnificent century in the third ODI against England at Lord’s.
The former India captain entered the series decider under intense scrutiny following a prolonged lean patch across formats, with speculation over his international future gaining momentum. Before the Lord’s ODI, Rohit had managed just 241 runs in eight innings at an average of 30.12 and a strike rate of 88.60, with only one half-century to his name.
Rohit answered those doubts in emphatic fashion, smashing his 34th ODI century and his maiden hundred at Lord’s. His 110-ball 138, however, came in a losing cause as India fell 27 runs short and lost the series 2-1.
Speaking to BCCI.tv, Rohit said his sole focus has always been on contributing to the team’s success rather than paying attention to outside opinions.
“Look, my job is with the bat — to come and play, represent my country, represent the team. That’s what I’ve been told to do since I made my debut, so that’s what I’m going to do. The noise has been there since I made my debut, and till the time I’m going to stay here, it’s always going to be there,” Rohit said.
“So it doesn’t really matter too much. What matters is what I do on the field and how I contribute to the success of the team. That’s all my focus is right now. And let the noise be there. If there’s no noise, there’s no fun. My job is inside, their job is outside. That’s how I look at it.”
The Lord’s innings also produced another landmark in Rohit’s celebrated ODI partnership with Virat Kohli. Their 113-run stand was the 21st century partnership between the duo in ODIs, taking them past Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan (20) into second place on the all-time list, behind only Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly (26).
Reflecting on his understanding with Kohli, Rohit said the partnership remains one of the most enjoyable aspects of his career.
“We’ve played our entire career together, so it was nice to have him in the middle. We’ve had a lot of partnerships, and it’s always fun batting together. We understand each other so much, and it’s always nice in the middle bouncing off ideas and trying to see what we can do,” he said.
Despite his personal milestone, Rohit admitted India were disappointed after failing to chase down England’s imposing total at Lord’s, having also fallen short in Cardiff after posting an under-par score.
“A little disappointed with the result because I thought we were playing really good cricket. We started well in Birmingham and played some really good cricket. We fell a little short at Cardiff with the bat, and then here again there was a massive total to chase. We tried everything we could with the bat but again fell 20-25 runs short,” Rohit said.
India’s bowlers endured a difficult outing in the decider. In Jasprit Bumrah’s absence, the pace attack conceded 27 runs in the first three overs before leaking another 62 in the final three overs as England posted a daunting total.
Rohit, however, backed the relatively inexperienced bowling unit and urged patience.
“When it comes to bowling, you’ve got to understand these guys haven’t played a lot of ODI cricket. You’ve got to give them some time. Hopefully we can learn from this game and make sure that when we come across a situation like that again, we try and better ourselves,” he said.
Rohit also reiterated his fondness for playing in England, saying the conditions continue to challenge and motivate him as a cricketer.
“I love playing in England. The atmosphere, the ground, the pitches — when you turn up here to play any format, it challenges you in different ways, and that’s what you want as a cricketer. I enjoyed my time in the middle, but again, I’m disappointed with the result. We have to move on from this and focus on how we can get better as a group,” he added.
While India could not secure the series, Rohit Sharma’s historic century at Lord’s served as a powerful reminder of his enduring class — and his ability to respond when the pressure is at its peak.
