"The lion has tasted blood" - Aakash Chopra says it is the first of many overseas hundreds for Rohit Sharma
Aakash Chopra believes Rohit Sharma's century on the third day of the Oval Test is the first of many overseas hundreds to come from his willow.
Sharma's 127-run effort came off 256 deliveries and was studded with 14 fours and a solitary six. He stitched together excellent partnerships with KL Rahul and Cheteshwar Pujara to give Team India the upper hand in the encounter.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra pointed out that Rohit Sharma has just set the ball rolling in terms of overseas centuries. He elaborated:
"Rohit Sharma is superhit. He has made his first overseas hundred after as many as seven hundreds at home. But this is the first of many. The lion has tasted blood, he will not stop now, he will keep on moving forward and score many centuries."
The cricketer-turned-commentator reasoned that Rohit Sharma had mastered the art of scoring runs in alien conditions. Chopra said:
"We all saw this coming, everyone knew that the century will be scored. It is just the start of a great journey. This player is not going to stop here because he has tamed the extremely difficult conditions. He has passed this litmus test with flying colors."
Rohit Sharma has certainly looked the most comfortable Indian batsman in the middle across the four Tests against England so far. He seems to be the answer to India's search for a reliable opener in the longest format of the game.
Aakash Chopra lauds Rohit Sharma's desperation
Aakash Chopra highlighted that Rohit Sharma could have easily rested on his laurels in limited-overs cricket. He observed:
"My takeaway is that when you are a very big player, he will be seen as a legend when he ends his career because he is the father of daddy hundreds in white-ball cricket and is a runaway match-winner, then at times you say I have nothing more to achieve, why should I put myself out there and fail."
The 43-year-old signed off after speaking in glowing terms about Rohit Sharma showing the urge to excel in Test cricket as well. Chopra explained:
"But this entire series is showing repeatedly how desperate Rohit Sharma is to do well in Test cricket, that he will change his game, mind over matter that he will not play shots and play extremely cautiously because he envisages himself as a match-winner in white clothing and wants to be remembered like that."
Rohit Sharma has not looked back since he started opening for Team India in red-ball cricket. The Mumbaikar will hope to continue in the same vein over the next few years.