The IND vs ENG ODI series, leveled at 1-1, is set for a mega blockbuster finish at the historic venue of Lord’s cricket ground in London.
India emerged victorious in the 1st ODI in Birmingham by six wickets, which also marked India’s first win on their current trip of the UK after six T20I defeats.
However, India conceded ground again as England, riding on Joe Root’s 99*, registered a four-wicket triumph in Cardiff to bring the series to parity and force it into the decider, slated for Sunday at Lord’s.
The talks around the Indian team in the last few days, though, have been surrounding the rumors and reports of a potential retirement of Indian legend Rohit Sharma, who has managed scores of 11 and 26 at a strike rate of 54 in the two games so far.
BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia, however, has switched off those rumors.
Saikia told PTI, “There are lot of speculations going on in media about Rohit Sharma’s future. I want to firmly assert that there has been no such discussion that Rohit will be playing his last match at Lord’s on Sunday.”
He added, “Rohit is a regular member of the Indian ODI team and he will continue to represent the country as long as he is in the scheme of things. In other words, Lord’s ODI wont be his last match.”
So with those retirement reports quashed away, India’s focus will return to the fixture at hand.
India will hope that Rohit can turn on his switch in this series and deliver a match-winning – and series-winning – performance. Rohit’s record of the past at Lord’s, though, isn’t confidence-boosting.
What is Rohit Sharma’s record at Lord’s in ODI cricket?
Rohit has a poor record at Lord’s in ODIs: in his two innings at Lord’s in 2018 and 2022, Rohit scored only 15 runs, including a duck. England won both of those matches by huge margins.
Coming to Rohit’s long-time teammate and arguably the greatest ODI batsman of all-time, Virat Kohli.
Kohli began this series with a cheap score of 5 at Edgbaston but notched up a fluent half-century in Cardiff, scoring 65 runs off 66 balls. Kohli’s dismissal forced India’s collapse, slipping from 177/3 to 233/10.
Like Rohit, Kohli’s previous record at the Home Of Cricket isn’t great.
What is Virat Kohli’s record at Lord’s in ODI cricket?
Kohli has featured in three ODIs at Lord’s but managed only 77 runs at a strike rate of 65. Kohli played his first ODI at Lord’s in 2011 and scored 16 runs, dismissed by off-spinner Graeme Swann.
His second ODI at Lord’s was in 2018. In a tall chase of 323, Kohli looked to take it deep but was dismissed for 46 runs by Moeen Ali. Four years later, Kohli’s innings was once again halted for only 16 runs, this time by seamer David Willey.
So both of India’s finest of this era, Rohit and Kohli, have underdelivered at Lord’s in ODIs.
In what is all but certain to be Rohit’s and Kohli’s last ODI game at Lord’s – India are not scheduled to tour England again before the 2027 World Cup – India would want their two legends to produce memorable knocks, even get on the Lord’s Honors Board with a three-figure score.
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