Rohit silences retirement speculations by smashing 32nd ton vs England

Under pressure with questions over form and mounting retirement speculations skipper Rohit Sharma silenced it all with a vintage 32nd century firing India to a dominant fourwicket seriesclinching victory over England in the second ODI here on SundayJadeja claims 335Opting to bat on a belter England were bowled out for 304 in 495 overs with leftarm spinner Ravindra Jadeja 335 continuing his stranglehold over the visitors The 37yearold Indian skipper made the chase a lopsided affair returning to his World Cup 2023 best with impeccable timing and effortless strokeplay en route to his 90ball 119 mdash his century No 32 in ODIs that came just in time ahead of the Champions Trophy in less than two weeksHis 90ball masterclass studded with seven sixes and 12 fours set the tone as India cruised to the target in 443 overs to take an unbeatable 20 lead going into the final ODI in Ahmedabad on Wednesday Shubman Gill also made a fluent 60 off 52 balls 9x4 1x6 but it felt overshadowed in comparison to Rohit in their solid opening partnership of 136 runs mdash their sixth centuryplus stand togetherAlso ReadIND vs ENG 2nd ODI Rohit Sharma surpasses Chris Gayle forKohli goes earlyBack after missing out the Nagpur ODI because of a swollen knee star batter Virat Kohli 5 fell cheaply edging a Adil Rashid legbreak Rohit then had a fruitful 70run stand with Shreyas Iyer 44 before he was dismissed off a full toss with Rashid taking a fine backward running catch Iyer soon departed following a runout while KL Rahul 10 and Hardik Pandya 10 also fell cheaplyBut there was hardly any runrate pressure and Axar Patel 41 not out held his ground as he along with Ravindra Jadeja 11 not out completed the formalities with 33 balls to spare Rohitrsquos knock also saw him surpass 10987 Rahul Dravidrsquos 10889 runs to enter the Top10 ODI runscorersrsquo list Earlier on a belter Jadejarsquos crucial breakthroughs came against the run of play as he dismissed an aggressive Ben Duckett 65 off 56 balls and a wellset Joe Root 69 off 72 balls preventing England from building on their strong startBanton called up as cover for BethellEngland on Sunday called up batter Tom Banton as a cover for injured allrounder Jacob Bethell for third ODI against India at Ahmedabad Bethell who scored a halfcentury and took a wicket in Englandrsquos fourwicket defeat in the first ODI at Nagpur had sustained a left hamstring injuryBrief scoresEngland 304 all out in 495 overs J Root 69 B Duckett 65 L Livingstone 41 J Buttler 34 H Brook 31 R Jadeja 335 lost to India 3086 in 443 overs R Sharma 119 S Gill 60 S Iyer 44 A Patel 41 J Overton 227 by four wickets50No of ODIs Rohit Sharma has led India in He guided the team to victory on 36 occasions lost 12 while one match each ended in a tie and a no result