“Special, just special” – Ritika Sajdeh reacts to Rohit Sharma’s record 5th T20I century during IND vs AFG 3rd T20I
India captain Rohit Sharma’s wife Ritika Sajdeh was delighted to witness her husband score a record fifth T20I century against Afghanistan in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Ritika called it a special milestone as Rohit became the first player to smash five centuries in T20Is. The reaction came as Rohit amassed an unbeaten 121 runs off 69 balls, hitting eight sixes and 11 boundaries. With the century, he also returned to form after back-to-back ducks on his T20I comeback after almost 14 months.
Ritika Sajdeh reshared the Indian Cricket Team's post on her Instagram story and captioned the post:
“Special, just special.”
Rohit Sharma shared an unbeaten 190-run partnership with Rinku Singh after India were tottering at 22/4 after choosing to bat first in Bengaluru. The Men in Blue put up 212/4 in their allotted 20 overs, with Rinku scoring a quickfire 69*..
“Important to bat long and deep” – Rohit Sharma on his century
Rohit Sharma spoke about the relevance of his partnership with Rinku Singh as the hosts put up a 200+ total against Afghanistan in the third and final T20I.
The 36-year-old also reserved special praise for Rinku for replicating his Indian Premier League success at the international level.
Rohit said in his post-match comments:
“Creating the partnership was important and we (Rinku and I) kept talking to each other to not lose that intent in big games and it was a good game for us to be in, the pressure was there, and was important to bat long and deep and not compromise on the intent we want to show.”
He added:
“The last couple of series that he played, he showed what he can do with the bat. Very calm and knows his strength pretty well. He is coming off age and doing what is expected of him and he has done really well for India.
"Augurs well for the team moving forward, wanted someone like that at the backend and we know what he has done in the IPL and he has carried that to the Indian colors as well.”
The match lasted 43.3 overs as India won the second Super Over after Ravi Bishnoi successfully defended 12 runs. That came as the two teams returned with identical scores of 212 and 16 in the match and first Super Over, respectively. With the win, India completed a 3-0 whitewash over Afghanistan in the T20I series.
The Rohit Sharma-led side will next play a five-match home Test series against England, which starts at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on January 25.