Geoffrey Boycott was trolled on social media after India skipper Rohit Sharma scripted a flurry of records in the fifth Test against England.
England legend Geoffrey Boycott was brutally trolled on social media after Team India skipper Rohit Sharma scripted a flurry of records in the fifth Test against the Three Lions in Dharamsala.
Following India’s defeat in the first Test between India and England in Hyderabad, Geoffrey Boycott opined that Rohit Sharma was well past his prime.
“Their captain Rohit Sharma is nearly 37 and past his best. He makes pretty cameos but has only scored two Test hundreds at home in four years,” Geoffrey Boycott wrote in his column for a British publication.
Geoffrey Boycott’s comments, however, came to haunt him after Rohit Sharma returned to form later in the series, hitting two centuries and a fifty in the last three games.
Few weeks ago, England legend Geoffrey Boycott had said – “Indian captain Rohit is nearly 37 and can’t score big.”
After that statement, Indian captain Rohit Sharma scored 2 centuries and 1 half-century.
Hitman loves to embarrass his critics. pic.twitter.com/7trpiDqGeH
— Vishal. (@SPORTYVISHAL) March 8, 2024
Geoffrey Boycott said “Their Captain Rohit Sharma is nearly 37 and past his best”. (After the 2nd Test).
After that – Rohit Sharma scored 2 Hundreds and one fifty in 5 innings.
This is The Hitman For you, He replies with his bat – Take a bow, Ro. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/LvG6XdemRe
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) March 8, 2024
Take that Geoffrey Boycott & shove it.
Another stupendous innings by Rohit .
Terrific century.
Make a double ❤️#INDvENG pic.twitter.com/fSKaIpq3wc— Raazi (@Crick_logist) March 8, 2024
About time Geoffrey Boycott stops obsessing over our captain and focuses on his own captain. #RohitSharma #INDvENG
— Siddhant M (@thepseudosocial) March 8, 2024
Rohit Sharma smashed a scintillating 103 runs off 162 deliveries, helping India to a comprehensive triumph over the Three Lions in Dharamsala during the weekend.
En route to his century, the Nagpur-born cricketer struck 13 fours and three sixes to pile on the misery on the Ben Stokes-led side after the visitors were bowled out for 218 on Day 1 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium (HPCA).
While there was assistance for spinners from the track, Rohit Sharma didn’t allow Shoaib Bashir and Tom Hartley to settle down in their rhythm as he stepped out to smack them for sixes on multiple occasions.
As he eased through to his 12th ton in red-ball cricket, Rohit Sharma scripted history in Dharamsala.
He equaled the legendary Sunil Gavaskar’s record for most hundreds scored against England. Both Rohit Sharma and Sunil Gavaskar have made 4 centuries each in the purest format against the Three Lions.
Additionally, Rohit Sharma is the second Indian after Sunil Gavaskar to register over 1000 runs as an opening batter against England.
Rohit Sharma also surpassed retired West Indies captain Chris Gayle among openers with the most tons in international cricket. While Chris Gayle compiled 42 centuries during his illustrious career for the West Indies, Rohit Sharma sits at 43.
Rohit Sharma is only behind David Warner and Sachin Tendulkar in this segment, with the Australian topping the list with 49 tons. The God of Cricket trails David Warner with 45 hundreds as an opener.
Rohit Sharma matched batting stalwart and current Team India head coach Rahul Dravid’s count of international tons.
He sits behind Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli in this department, who have 100 and 80 centuries, respectively, while Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid have 48 apiece.
Also, Rohit Sharma leveled Sachin Tendulkar’s milestone of having struck the maximum hundreds for India after the age of 30.
Both cricketers have 35 centuries to their names after turning 30.
Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma trail Sri Lankan great Kumar Sangakkara and Australia’s prolific run-scorers, Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting, in this special list.
This was the 36-year-old cricketer’s sixth three-figure score in Test cricket since 2021, the most by an Indian in the last three years.
In the same period, Shubman Gill made 4 centuries while Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant, and KL Rahul hit three each.
With his hundred against England in Himachal Pradesh, Rohit Sharma took his tally of centuries in the World Test Championships (WTC) to nine. Only premier England batter Joe Root (13), Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne (11), and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson are ahead of the Team India skipper in terms of three-figure scores in the WTC.
It was Rohit Sharma’s fourth hundred as India captain in Test matches. Rohit Sharma’s predecessor, Virat Kohli, tops the list in this metric with 20 tons. Virat Kohli is followed by Sunil Gavaskar (11), Mohammad Azharuddin (9), Little Master Sachin Tendulkar (7), two-time World Cup winner MS Dhoni (5), Bengali icon Sourav Ganguly (5), MAK Pataudi (5), and current head coach Rahul Dravid (4) and Rohit Sharma (4).
Rohit Sharma’s well-crafted innings earned him rich plaudits from many former cricketers, including ex-Team India opener Aakash Chopra and veteran batter Dinesh Karthik.
Aakash Chopra reckoned that Rohit Sharma has matured as an opening batter in Test cricket, and he’s now trusting his defense, which is a key element in the longest format of the game.
“He actually batted very cautiously. It wasn’t that he was set on 50, so he should start from there. He was giving himself time at the start. In fact, when the partnership was 100, Shubman Gill was the dominant partner. He had scored 65 and Rohit had scored only 33,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube channel.
“It’s not important which player scores how many runs. It’s important till where you can take that innings. The most beautiful thing that has happened in Rohit Sharma’s career was when he was made Test opener. We saw the 2.0 batter as soon as he became a Test opener. He has fallen in love with his defense,” he added.
“He keeps defending calmly when he knows very well that he can hit the ball into the stands while standing at his position and whenever he wants. However, he doesn’t go to that approach very early and doesn’t go as repeatedly as he probably used to earlier. It was just a shift in mindset,” the former India batter stated.
“The consistency he has got as an opener since then is praiseworthy and it’s necessary for a captain as well. A captain cannot demand respect. You say that you have shown it by doing it and the others can follow in his footsteps,” he explained.