Rohit Sharma talks about MS Dhoni's advice during his first double ton
The Indian cricket team's limited-overs vice-captain, Rohit Sharma, opened up about MS Dhoni's important advice during the first of the three double hundreds he has scored in ODIs.
During a live Instagram session with Ravichandran Ashwin in his famous segment 'ReminisceWithAsh', Rohit Sharma recalled the crucial role played by Dhoni in his 158-ball battering of a clueless Australian attack.
He explained how Dhoni insisted that he should stay till the end of the innings, and that the MI skipper shouldn't be the one taking chances. Sharma stitched together partnerships with Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina, but revealed that the 62-run stand off only 38 balls with MS Dhoni proved to be the most important one.
"I never thought I would score a double hundred. I just wanted to bat.. It rained a bit and them along with Shikhar, remained not out till the break. Soon Shikhar got out and Virat was run out as well. So I took over the responsibility. Suresh and I also shared a good partnership but lost Yuvi early."
"I batted with MS Dhoni till the 48th over. During the partnership, he kept on talking and discussing things with me. He said, 'You are the set batsman and we want you to bat till the 50th over and I will be the one who takes chances'."
Looking back at Rohit Sharma's 209 vs AUS in 2013
The final game of the seven-match ODI series in 2013 was played at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. On a flat batting deck, the Indian batting line-up piled on 383 runs on the back of a magnificent maiden double ODI ton by Rohit Sharma.
The talented right-hander scored the first of his three triple tons in only 158 deliveries, to help India win the match by 57 runs and clinch the series.
Sharma later went on to score a record-breaking 264 runs in the fourth ODI against Sri Lanka at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in 2017. His final double ton came against the same opposition in Mohali, where he scored a magnificent 208 runs.